Nataliia from University of Logistics in Poland: "Build network, learn new skills and travel"

Nataliia Melnyk, from Ukraine, a student at The International University of Logistics and Transport in Poland, came to Bratislava for her internship as a Channel Services Enablement Specialist at a big multinational.

Before she came to Slovakia for the internship, she had familiar worries that many people share when starting something new abroad, about her accommodation and whether her internship could later be extended:

“The accommodation conditions, and later, the probability of extending my internship upon my university's approval.”

Those concerns turned out to be manageable, as Nataliia found exceptional support from her mentor and team throughout her internship and accommodation turned out to be really nice:

“Simply, awesome. I guess I've been really lucky to join exactly my team. Though my manager is based abroad, we've been keeping in touch on a regular basis not only to discuss a business-related issues, but also, just to have a nice chat. I'm also very glad to work along with my team leader based in Bratislava. Whenever I need any help, a piece of advise, etc., I know I can reach out to them without hesitation.”

When it comes to the accommodation, Nataliia added: "I don't have any complaints in mind. The equipment that I needed worked. In regard to the roommates and atmosphere, I felt like at home. "

Additionally, one common problem students have is a lack of exposure to technical skills outside their main field of study. Internships are helpful in this situation, as they open doors to unexpected areas of growth. Moreover, interns gain experience in working on real projects and take on real responsibility. Nataliia described her work as following:

“I've never thought that I would ever get a chance to break in content publishing and learn web development. During the internship, I've also developed stakeholder communication skills by contacting multiple people from the marketing teams around the globe. My responsibilities also included Brainstorming solutions to ad hoc issues, exchanging opinions on how to improve/change webpages with my team leader, clearing the stakeholders' doubts and answering their questions, and seeing the results of my work.”

Outside of work, there is a wonderful opportunity to explore Slovakia and experience new culture. For Nataliia, the language and the international community stood out the most:

“There are 2 fairly interesting things about Slovakia: 1) the language, which seems to have borrowed even some basic words from a couple of the other European languages; 2) the noticeable number of foreigners, especially the French people.”

At the same time, the most pleasant experience was being independent, gaining work experience at a large corporation, and meeting new people.

So, for her future plans, Nataliia is embarking on a full-time job at a big international company, staying in Slovakia after her internship.

As advice for interns, Nataliia shared that newcomers should focus on building meaningful connections, gaining knowledge once the opportunity arrives, and travelling at least once a month.

"I would recommend networking, learning any new skills if an opportunity comes your way, and travelling at least once per month."

We are glad to have had Nataliia as an intern through our program and wish her continued success at a big international company.