For me, life at the Lottery was not something new.
The internship course was getting closer and closer and I was working at an amazing media and marketing organisation since 2016, so I was scared that I had to leave my current job to apply for a ‘real’ internship.
At the end of 2019 the search for an internship started. The questions, what would I like to do? Which organisation interests me? Is it related to communication science? What position would I apply for? And so on. I kept searching for internships but nothing could match my current job. The answer to every question was: the Goede Doelen Loterijen.
That is when I talked to a fellow communication science student who also had a nice job which was communication science related. We talked about the internship and finding something else when we came to the realisation that it was possible to ask whether our current jobs could count as the internship!
The department where I worked at the so called Dutch charity lotteries, the Goede Doelen Loterijen, was the Beethoven200. Beethoven200 is named after our address, Beethovenstraat 200, where you can find headquarters, which is the most sustainable renovated building in the Netherlands.
I was given the opportunity to help with the events in our Auditorium, help with the guided tours that take place in our building and Hospitality. After four years it would have been terrible to leave this organisation. Therefore, I emailed to the one in charge of the internships at UvA and got green light!
So, for all my fellow students who have an amazing job, which is related to communication science, you might want to find out what your options are!
In the end, my internship felt like a real internship due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Because of the COVID-19 there was no ‘real’ life at the lottery anymore.
For me, working at a large organisation is extremely valuable. It is the best way to put everything what you have learned in theory in practice. Also see how the internal communication works. But not only to find out how many you know already because of your studies. I found out how to work with other people, with other departments and that your colleagues really become your friends!
Good luck with your internships! It might be exhausting, but it is all worth it!!
You will make friends (aka professional network) and you will learn things they do not teach in class.
