Being a Trainee at the Swedish Trade Council in Greece
29 Mar 2010 | Posted By: Maria Markenroth
By: Emanuel Raptis, International Economics and Policy student and Trainee at the Swedish Trade Council
Last semester, in early November I think it was, I accidentally came across a webpage on our schools Career Center. “Job opportunities”, I got a little curious about what kind of jobs that were available at that point in time so I clicked the link, having no intentions what so ever of seeking any jobs because, “hey, I’ve got one and a half year left of my studies”, I said to my self. But there it was, right in front of me, a job that I had dreamed of just a couple of months ago – “Internship at the Swedish Trade Council (STC) in Athens, Greece”. What a rush! I immediately decided to send in my application, but realized that I had to make serious preparations before I did so. Once again, I turned to the Career Center for advice about how to structure my CV and my cover letter, and even how to prepare for a possible interview. Furthermore, since the internships at STC are unpaid, you have to be able to fund it yourself, ideally making the internship part of your education and thereby have access to funding through CSN. Luckily, there is a course available at JIBS that assures exactly this – “International Internship in Economics”. All set, I sent in my application and the rest is history. This introduction is meant to be an example of how well our school, JIBS, is supporting and encouraging students that wants to go abroad and work at a Swedish International organization.
Now, why should you take the effort to actively seek International Internship opportunities? For me, the answer is straightforward – it is an extremely valuable experience. Giving the students the opportunity to apply the theory gained in class to real world problems, and when I say real, I mean real. Since I came to STC in Athens, just about two and a half months ago, I have been involved in several projects. Stretching from performing market analyses for Swedish companies, conducting visiting programs in Greece for these companies, attending large International conferences, arranging seminars in Greece and Sweden, to ordering office supplies. All these experiences have developed my skills in, and understanding of International Economics, Finance, International Marketing, Export Management and Sales in a way not easily gained through regular teaching. However, I realize now that the knowledge gained in class has given me a solid framework on which I can rely upon.
I now have about three and a half months left of my adventure in Greece before I return to Jönköping and finish my studies. During this time, I will continuously post my experiences on this blog and I hope that it will inspire other students to look for similar opportunities. I hope I will succeed in this!
The STC team in Athens, from left: Chris Söderman, Emanuel Raptis, Elza Kazemi, Elisabeth Seferidis, Dimitris Oreopoulos
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Hello Emanuel!
When we had our meeting and discussed your application when you visited me at Knutpunkten Career Center I was almost certain that you would get this internship although I didn´t dared to say so. When you came back a month later to disuss your upcoming interwiew I knew you would get it.
Looks like I was right, I hope you enjoy your stay in Greece and if you need any more help in the future feel free to contact me.
I also must say that this is a good way to show all other students on JIBS and the entire University of Jönköping that it is possible to get real interesting internships throughout the world as long as you try and put in a little effort.
Best Regards
Andreas Torén
Career Councellor
Knutpunkten Career Center