Hello! I am Vasundhara Sidhanti, and I have just begun my final year of the Communication Science Bachelor’s programme. As part of the course, I had the opportunity to do an internship at Oikocredit International from March to August 2022, and it was a wonderful and educational experience. My internship was with the communications team, and I got to work with many seasoned professionals who supported my learning and gave me insight into all the channels and methods used to communicate with different audiences and stakeholders in a corporate environment.
Founded in 1975, Oikocredit is a cooperative society with the goal to provide low risk financing solutions to microfinance institutions, cooperatives, and small to medium sized enterprises in the global south. The funds flow from investors in Europe and North America through Oikocredit and down to small and medium sized enterprises in Africa, Asia and South America. Based in Amersfoort, the Oikocredit International head office assists the regional branches with inflow and outflow related communication, as well as the internal corporate communication for the whole organization.
My tasks as an intern involved creating, editing, and maintaining public facing communication like social media posts and website content, internal communications by way of intranet updates and monthly newsletters, and inter-organization communication with support associations and partner organizations all over the world. Because of the broad range of my internship duties, myself and the other intern on the team were allowed to request and volunteer for tasks that we particularly enjoyed or excelled at. This led us to design infographics for corporate events and banners for employee social media. I especially liked and showed an affinity for creative writing in blog posts and partner stories for the intranet and website.
As a whole, I found Oikocredit International to be a welcoming and engaging workplace in which to do my internship. I feel like I have gained many new technical skills, and grown more comfortable with handling the pressures and expectations that come with being in a professional environment. Iam also glad that I was able to work for a social impact driven organization, and know that my work was able to help people in some way. Overall, I have become more confident in my ability as a researcher and communication scientist, but also as a student transitioning from school life to a professional career. I was also able to connect with and learn first-hand from the rest of the communications team in their varied roles, and received valuable insight about my own future study and career path. I am very grateful for all the teachings and connections I was able to accumulate over the last four months at Oikocredit, and hope to continue working in corporate communication fields in the future