Interning abroad is a valuable experience that can offer unique opportunities for personal and professional growth. During the internship in Slovakia, you can have the chance to immerse yourself in a new culture, develop new skills, and gain firsthand experience in your field of interest.
In this article, you can get acquainted with the internship experience of our intern from India - Vibin Philip. He described his role and responsibilities, shared what he learned, and provided feedback on the internship program. We hope that his insights will be helpful to others considering interning in Slovakia. 
Vibin Philip is a student at Riga Technical University and had a position as an Account Analyst. This position was for the Slovak branch of a respected global company providing services in reinsurance, insurance, and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer. Dealing directly and working through brokers, its global client base consists of insurance companies, mid-to-large-sized corporations, and public sector clients.
His tasks during the internship included:
- Process and file staff expense claims, ensure compliance with Company travel policy (in line with local requirements);
- Handling internal and external queries associated with invoice status, payment date, possible discrepancies, confirmation of balances;
- Perform other position-related tasks as instructed by Supervisor;
- Entering client's information into master data management;
- Process incoming and outgoing payments promptly;
- Ensure appropriate accounting treatment for bank account movements;
- Daily/monthly/quarterly reconciliation of bank account balances in relevant systems;
- Record management of documentation in line with internal rules and guidelines;
- Ability to deputize team members and cover tasks. Have an overview of the responsibilities of team members;
- Cooperate in closing activities.
Vibin shared with us that he got various opportunities to engage with different financial applications and situations including Process Payments, Sap Reports (EBS, overdue, open payments, bank error, Direct debit Report to AP), Account Reconciliation Payments control (AML), GTX, GTS, REAP, Cerebro, MDM, Swift Ref, TRAX, Sap Fiori • Microsoft Office.
Talking about overall support from mentorsmentor and colleagues in his company, Vibin said: “I have been very pleased with the way that the mentoring scheme went and I feel that I benefited greatly from being able to discuss work and career-related issues. My mentor impressed me greatly with the way he managed the first session and the way I could see that together we could pinpoint some areas to work on that would be of direct value to me in my short, medium, and long-term career. My colleagues were great team players, and we would often meet up after work for drinks or team activities.”
The most pleasant part for him was flexibility and freedom. He also mentioned that the most difficult part of working life was: “Coming from a smaller company with a start-up feel, perhaps adapting to the culture of a big corporation might be a bit of a challenge. However, I've moved countries a few times and I know that I'm fairly adaptable. I just observed and learned how the systems work, and then I picked up the pace.”
The Castles and traditional wines - were the most interesting things for Vibin in Slovakia. He also commented on the most difficult part of his experience: “You will need to learn and unlearn a lot of things. The concepts that Master’s books taught won’t always hold well in real-life scenarios. It forced me to invest time in learning, understanding, and implementing new concepts and applications.”
How he spent his free time depended on his mood and energy levels. On some days he felt great and tried to organize something with friends, or just walked around enjoying the sunshine. On some other days, however, he was tired. That’s the time to just listen to some music, watch a movie on his laptop, or even sleep. The three activities that he most enjoyed in his free time though watching football, socializing, and sleeping.
Vibin also left some recommendations for new coming trainees: “If you don't know, ask – there is no such thing as a stupid question. The more questions you ask, the more you will know and the better you will be. If you do know, have the confidence to share your ideas and give your opinion. You have a unique perception.”
We hope this internship was a valuable experience for Vibin, and that he gained new skills and knowledge that will serve him well in his future endeavors. It was a pleasure having Vibin as part of our Placement Slovakia interns. We wish you all the best in your future career and hope you stay in touch.
Placement Slovakia team