Sebastian Franzén

Where did you do your internship and what was your position?

I did my internship at Stolt-Nielsen as a Global HR intern.

What were your main tasks?

My tasks focused on creating a global internal communication plan about COVID-19 and implementing organizational developments ranging from creating Inspirational Leadership programs to optimizing Talent Management to improving Recruitment procedures.

How did you find this internship despite the challenges of COVID-19?

I found this Internship through a peer in IBCoM who told me about a vacancy at Stolt-Nielsen so I applied for it and got it! Fortunately, this was in January before the coronavirus was an issue in The Netherlands.

How did you work from home and manage to stay productive?

The company provided me with a laptop and headset so that we could have daily meetings and conference calls from home. We still tried to work from the office one day a week while doing our best to maintain a 1.5meter distance from each other! 

Any tips for students looking for internships?

Make a list of industries/sectors you are interested in (such as the maritime industry for example) and find people via Linkedin who work within that industry in the city you want to do your internship. Then reach out to them with a quick intro and ask if they know of any potential internship positions within their company. The worst that can happen is that they say "no sorry" but you could also end up with your dream internship!