Maria from Padua in the north of Italy is a true enthusiast and has a passion for interior design. A little shy at the beginning, Maria quickly shows her warm, wonderful nature as soon as you scratch her cool Italo facade. She is currently working as a film producer in an advertising agency in Milan and took time out of her busy schedule to talk to us about her experiences as a global intern.
Q: IT’S BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR AGO FOR YOUR TIME AS A GLOBAL INTERN – WHAT DID YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT IT?
A: Definitely my “travel buddies” and all the people I met. I left a little piece of my heart everywhere and scattered it all over the world. I love having so many international friends. It’s like having a thousand heads and a thousand eyes that think and see in different and complementary ways.
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR MOST IMPRESSIVE EXPERIENCE AS A GLOBAL INTERN?
A: The moment I always remember is a sunset on the beach in Santa Barbara. I was traveling with Ayu and Mariana, two of my travel buddies, and asked them to watch the sunset while I filmed them. The two of them spontaneously started joking and faxing and of course I filmed everything. It wasn’t actually a special situation, but it was totally emotional.
Q: What new skills did you gain through the internship?
A: I learned to “share”. No matter whether it’s about deciding together where to have lunch or about setting goals for a team and deciding how best to achieve them. I had to overcome my shyness, exude confidence and communicate with people I had never met before. I have learned to lower my ego and to be open to other people’s ideas. Last but not least, I also learned that there is no experience that I should be afraid of.
Q: You are currently working as a film producer in Milan. Was your internship experience helpful in getting this job?
A: Absolutely, because of the skills I’ve gained along the way. In today’s business world, two qualities are most important: courage and the ability to work in a team. The Global Internship really helped me develop both of these qualities.
Q: If you had the opportunity to go global in-house again, would you want to do it? And why yes or no?
A: The answer is definitely YES! And I would highly recommend it to others too. I don’t want to repeat myself, but it was simply a unique and exhilarating experience. You travel around a lot and at the same time get great insights into the world of work. Fun, work, adventure – these aspects can rarely be combined. As my friend Mariana would say: “Who wouldn’t want to do that?
