The impact of colleagues on your growth

So there I was. With a folder under my arms in front of the reception desk at Ebusco. Without an appointment. I thought ‘Let’s do something else than just sending an email, I’ll just go there and hand over my CV and motivation letter myself’. Not knowing that I would already end up in a job interview with the HR manager only five minutes after walking in. It turns out that an intern has already been hired, but after some puzzling with the allocation of tasks, there is still an extra spot. Two weeks later, I am expected for the first day of my internship.

No such thing as stupid questions

Just like the first time, I am welcomed with open arms on my official start date. This time by my colleagues from Recruitment. I am immediately seen as a full employee within the team and not as an intern, nice! Soon my colleagues notice that I sometimes come across as shy and struggle to ask for help. During a conversation, they explain that I can ask anything. Silly questions? There is no such thing. Too busy? Out of question. Perhaps I have to wait a few minutes while colleagues finish their task, but it can’t be much longer. Thanks to this open mindset I can completely be myself. Together, we start working on the first assignments, focusing mainly on recruitment.

Open and honest feedback

The great thing about my internship is that I am surrounded by motivated colleagues, who are easy to approach. They compliment me when things are going well, but also share feedback on how to improve. I get many opportunities to learn and grow. Moreover, I am not left to my own devices; colleagues give me a lot of trust and responsibility. Partly thanks to the fine guidance from my colleagues and various internship supervisors, I dare to make mistakes, without being punished.

Stepping out of my comfort zone

Perhaps I am most surprised by my own skills. Although I sometimes join job interviews, I cannot really imagine conducting an interview myself without any supervision. Until a colleague drops out of a scheduled job interview and suddenly the time has come. All I can think about is ‘how can we make sure the interview goes ahead anyway?’. So, I suggest conducting the interview myself. In English. Although I hesitate for a moment whether I am fully ready to do it on my own, my colleagues give me the confidence. The interview goes well and, thanks to my colleagues, I really stepped out of my comfort zone. I grabbed this challenge with both hands and I am still proud of that!

The result? After this first internship, I get to come back to Ebusco for my second internship as well. Not only are they very pleased with my growth both personally and professionally, at the end I even get the offer to stick around as an HR assistant.

I can continue to work here, YES!