Hi there! My name is Julia Bakker and I have been interning abroad (Czech Republic, Prague) at Footshop for the past couple six months. Footshop is an international company that sells limited editions shoes and clothing.
I have been interning within the Customer Care department where I had the possibility to work in an international diverse team. The moment that I walked in I was treated as an equal, which has been very beneficial regarding my learning process. On my first day I was introduced to all the different programmes that are used within the Customer Care department, on my third day I was already challenged to handle customer care cases myself (under supervision of my internship supervisor of course ;)) and after one month I was able to handle (most of) the customer care cases myself. I got to help my coworkers out on the Dutch market, the French market, and the EU market, which also gave me the opportunity to improve my language skills.
In a short time, I have learned a lot about the functioning of an international company and in particular the Customer Care department. Initially I thought that the different departments within companies would be working on their tasks independently and that there would not be a lot of contact between these departments. While interning at Footshop I learned that the contrary was the case. The whole company is more like one big team that works together, keeps each other up to date and helps each other out wherever they can. I also learned that the company culture is an important aspect to keep this mindset alive. A good company culture motivates employees to work hard for the company and for each other. Monthly company parties are also a good method to maintain this spirit ;). It was really motivated by the company to get to know as many colleagues within the company, and from different departments as possible, which also gave me the opportunity to expand my communication network on an international level. Through building this network, I got offered a job as a customer care employee for Queens, the sister company of Footshop, where I was asked to set up the customer care market for The Netherlands and perform customer care activities during this process.
I would recommend everyone to have a likewise experience abroad. To challenge yourself to start from the beginning, open your mindset to other cultures (including habits, norms, and values), making friends everywhere you can and enjoy this experience to the fullest!
To finish this blogpost with an inspirational conclusion: The most important thing that this internship has taught me is that everything is possible if you work hard, stay kind, and most importantly: be(lieve in) yourself.