Martin Sørensen, a student from Norway, visits our blog today to talk about his experience in the Business Internship. He studied Business, International Relations & Spanish during the Spring 2016 Semester at the University of Deusto.
This semester I participated in an internship at a company here in Bilbao. It is a consultancy firm that works with large projects with an environmental friendly focus. During this semester we have been working with big projects at a European/global level – projects which required us to pay attention to different aspects such as pollution, how the different markets work, Spanish and European Union regulations, opportunities for financing and funding, or logistics and transport.
My role has been to help with the research, mainly studying how the different markets work, and financing. This included ways to get funding from the European Commission, through its program for research an innovation – Horizon 2020. This is a fairly advanced and complicated process, but it fits perfectly with all of the subjects I have taken about the European Union.
It has also been valuable getting Spanish work experience. It is interesting to see the differences between Spain and Norway, and work in a new environment. It was challenging to work and communicate in my third language at first, but it has given me a lot. Regarding my career, it was my first office job, doing my own first-hand research, and contributing to the company with new information. I think this will help me a lot in the future.
I have enjoyed the internship class a lot. We have had class sessions at the University with a mentor and a professor who have helped us along the way, through relevant classes and meetings where we have talked about our experiences in the different companies. I am glad I took this class, and stronly recommend it!
