Esther is a Business Management student from Amsterdam who did a 4-month internship at a small co-working space in downtown Toronto in the Spring of 2018. She loves to travel and explore new cultures to see what the world has to offer.
My sister is an alumna from The Intern Group London program and only had positive things to say about the company. I wanted to be sure I was in good hands while traveling to the other side of the ocean to a country and city I had never been to before.
When I was choosing destinations, Toronto was the newest addition to The Intern Group, and I was immediately taken by the thought of being one of the first ones to explore the opportunities The Intern Group created for us in Toronto.
The beauty of The Intern Group is that they pretty much arrange all the details for you. Through interviews and personal preferences, they try to find the best suiting internship for you. The only thing you have to do is get hired by the company of your choice.
The only other things you have to arrange yourself are booking your flights and getting a work permit, but The Intern Group is very engaged in that process. Everything else, like housing, transportation cards, weekly activities, etc. is taken care of by the amazing people of the company.
The only piece of advice I would give someone who is going to Toronto with The Intern Group is this: even though the people of The Intern Group are working around the clock to make your experience as amazing as it can be, you are the only one who can make it unforgettable for yourself. They can assist you on every level and help you with every problem, but you are responsible for your own good time and happiness.
An average week of a participant of the program looked a bit like this:
Depending on your internship, you went to work Monday to Friday, from 9:00 AM till 6:00 PM. You get home and hang out with your fellow international intern housemates. During the weekend, The Intern Group always had great activities planned for us to see the city, get to know the culture, and just have fun.
My biggest fear prior to going abroad was being misunderstood by the people of Toronto. As a girl growing up in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I have always been taught to speak my mind and just say straight forward everything that you are thinking. Sometimes, people completely misunderstand or get offended with what I was saying even when that is totally not my intention.
At the beginning of my time in Toronto, I did encounter some situations where being too blunt and straight forward has not really worked in my favor. A big lesson I have learned is that you can and should say what you think but that it is better to rephrase your thought rather than just spitting it out.