At some point during my Communication Science studies at the University of Amsterdam, I realized that I want to specialize in corporate communication and peruse a career in that field. It was then to no one’s surprise that I was over the moon when I got the news that I was accepted for an internship at the European headquarters of Teva Pharmaceuticals in Amsterdam.
The second I entered the office I could feel that throughout the next five months I will face situations I have never yet faced and learn things I have never yet learned. Being an intern in a big corporation as Teva Pharmaceuticals may be intimidating. Suddenly I was surrounded by all those professionals, with no other intern to relate to in the office. Even though everyone I met was very welcoming and open, it took me some time to learn how to approach them. At the begging, I struggled with finding the golden mean between the formal and casual at the office. But as the days passed, I gradually learned the culture of the company and my unease went away. Unfortunately, when I was halfway into the second month of my internship the COVID-19 crisis came over the Netherlands, and the office’s employees were asked to work from home until further notice.
On one hand, I was worried that I will be separated from all my colleagues and not be able to observe and learn from them first-hand. After all, the whole office experience is an essential part of any internship. I kept asking myself if I will be able to develop and gain skills from my own living room. But I had no other choice, and I was lucky to keep my internship after all. I had to look at it from a different angle: as a one in a lifetime opportunity. An opportunity to see and learn how a pharmaceutical company deals with a global healthcare crisis. After all, all pharmaceutical companies became major actors during the COVID-19 crisis, heavily impacted by it but also with the capacity and obligation to act upon it.
Teva has quickly adjusted to the remote way of working. All the meetings that would usually happen in a conference room at our office took a form of video calls or email conversations. From now on, I had regular morning team calls at 9:15; we updated each other on our work progress and company performance.
The biggest struggle was to stay focused and motivated. Without any colleagues around me and the “office atmosphere” it was hard for me to keep the drive alive. I had to really exercise my determination to stay on track and work if I was working from the office.
I am now in my final month of the internship. I am still working from home but the worry about it is long gone. I learned how to do my best considering the circumstances. Surely, this experience provided me with a new sense of professionalism.