Gaining new skills and making friendships: Rafael from Italy shares his internship experience

Rafael Lara, a student at Università degli Studi di Pavia from Italy, came to Bratislava for his internship as an Invoicing Specialist at Lenovo.

Before he came to Slovakia for the internship, he had a familiar worry that many students share, about finding a job after the internship ended. That worry turned out to be unfounded:

“I left a more mature person with very relevant professional skills - that naturally helped me find a full time job but also with friends and memories that I will take for life.”

Rafael also found great support from his mentor and colleagues, and a workplace he genuinely enjoyed being part of it.

Additionally, one common problem students have is a lack of practical knowledge of how business processes work in a large company. Internships are helpful in this situation, as they let students learn these processes hands-on. Rafael learned a lot of useful skills:

“Processing invoices from the Payables side - and partially from the receivable side and general knowledge of the payment process overall. Identifying and solving problems raised by partners and other teams. Keeping track of invoices and new partners on our database. Processing up some types of special invoices. Aligning with different teams in SK but also all over the world to meet partners' deadlines and expectations. From soft skills I would add Teamwork and team support, Taking ownership, Time management skills, Dynamism and Adaptability”

Besides work, there is a wonderful opportunity to explore Slovakia and experience new culture. For Rafael, the relaxed feel of the country stood out the most:

“Very small and chill country, even at the capital.”

At the same time, the most pleasant experience was the overall atmosphere, from the workplace environment to the community around it. He arrived with zero expectations and left  with relevant professional skills and friends for life:

“I have a lot of good memories, it is very hard to think of a specific one. I believe the overall experice is very positive, from the workplace environment to all the community that exists around it. It is a space that I feel valued and allows me to learn and grow and at same time make friends and have some good time - I was actually enjoying my time at the office a lot. Stepped into a country that I had zero expectations about and left a more mature person with very relevant professional skills - that naturally helped me find a full time job but also with friends and memories that I will take for life.”

Rafael has already started a new job successfully in another country.

As advice for interns, Rafael shared:

“Take your erasmus internship to make the most connections as possible and learn as many skills as possible, you will have many opportunities for that and this will be very good for you not only professionally but also personally.”

We are glad to have had Rafael as an intern through our program and wish him success in his new job and future plans.