Home » Careers » Thomson Reuters Internship Launched My Business Career
Back

Thomson Reuters Internship Launched My Business Career

28th September 2014 Posted by: Rebecca Megson

BUSINESS and finance graduates looking for paid experience with an international corporation might want to take a look at an internship with Thomson Reuters. 
The New York-based multinational is a world-leading source of information and data to decision makers in financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets.
It has more than 60,000 employees in 100 countries and runs the world's biggest multimedia news agency Reuters whose 2,600 journalists provide business, financial, world and technology news to a billion people. The company runs internships in various fields in Asia, Europe and North America.
 

Intern Carolina Alonso

Carolina Alonso has just got a full-time job working at Thomson Reuters in Poland following a six-month internship.

The 23-year-old, from Spain, completed her degree in Economics and Administration at the University of Navarro. Knowing that she wanted to pursue a career abroad she looked into a European Union-funded internship scheme, Erasmus +, which she applied to via her university.

“Erasmus matches up applicants with the places that they feel best fit their skills. They gave me opportunities in the UK as well as Poland but the one working for Thomson Reuters in Poland was the best fit for me,” she says.

Carolina says the six-month internship experience was "incredible".  Thomson Reuters gave her the opportunity to learn about the business environment, to develop technical skills such as Excel and SQL and to get involved in fun extra curricular activities.

“I was in touch with my team before I arrived, they helped me to find a flat-mate and a place to live," she says. 
“I spent the first two weeks in training, which helped to make sure I knew what I needed to do and that my work was good."

Carolina didn’t speak any Polish when she arrived, only English, her native Spanish and a bit of French.  She hasn’t found this to be a problem however.  She says: “I speak a bit of Polish now; I have had a few lessons because of course it is about living in another country and wanting to learn everything about the country, including the language.  But mostly I speak English – with English you can work perfectly here. Everyone speaks English to a really good level.”

It's not all work, work, work, says Carolina (right)

Making friends has been straightforward too.  Carolina says her working environment is diverse and she is friends with people from Turkey, Spain and Poland.
Only a month into her internship Carolina told her team leader she was "super happy" and wanted to stay on.  She asked for his help in developing her skills and knowledge to ensure that she was in the best possible position to apply for a permanent job as and when one came up.

“When my current job came up, one month before I was due to finish, it was perfect. I applied and I got the job, I was so happy. I joined the team; they are really great and I have a good team leader.

“Work isn’t just about work – there are additional workstreams you can get involved in. I was involved in the English Winter Camp for example, working as part of the charities team to help children to learn English,” she says. 

 

Making friends has been easy, says Carolina

“We all had different things to do as part of the event – my area was media and communications. Some of my colleagues were responsible for the legal side of things and for fundraising.  It’s a really nice initiative and we get to see the kids having so much fun.”

Carolina’s biggest challenge came in December when temperatures reached as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius. Despite the winter cold however Carolina is enjoying living in Poland.  It is an interesting place to be and she says there is a lot to see and do in her nearest city, Gdansk.

Getting used to freezing winters was the biggest challenge, says Carolina

Carolina recommends that anyone looking at doing an Erasmus internship should work hard but also make sure they focus on other activities in addition to getting great marks. 

“You have to diversify your time," she says. "Take part in charity events and other groups because it helps when you come to get a job in the future, you have more experience. I couldn’t see it so much when I was at university but it makes perfect sense to me now.”

Carolina believes that the time she spent in the summer vacations working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and on placement also helped her to secure the internship at Thomson Reuters and, ultimately, in getting the full-time job.

Her main advice however is simply: “If you’re even thinking about it, do it, go ahead! Don’t have any fear at all because it is the best experience you can have."

With a fellow intern, Carolina made this video of her experiences.

 

Student World Online also caught up with the latest intake of Erasmus + interns to find out how they found out about the programme and how they were getting on at the end of their first week at Thomson Reuters, Poland:

 Adrián Jesús González Martín, 21, from University of Navarra, Spain says: “I found this program in my university, they presented the Erasmus+ program and I thought that it would be a great experience and something really important to improve my skills with an international work experience.”

 “My first week was awesome, the work atmosphere and the people in here are great, and the whole building is just perfect. I can say that I’ve made a good choice.”

“I would like to say that If any student has the possibility of applying to any of this Erasmus+ programs, do not hesitate to apply. Do not lose opportunities like this to have an international experience.”

Le Nguyen Khanh Yen, 22, from Lahti University Of Applied Sciences, Finland says: “I found out about the Erasmus + internship scheme from the International Office at my University. There was no difficulty applying the process. It required only the agreements of both company and the university.”

 “My first week has been great so far as the environment here is very international where everybody is very open-minded and willing to help me with problems.”

 “The training section has been very clear and exact and I am quite interested in the tasks. I would like to gain the skills of using SQL and proficiently advanced Excel.”

“The coolest thing so far is that the Polish are extremely nice and helpful to me.” 

Baldomero Pena, 24 from the University of Navarra, Spain says: “What most attracted me most about the Erasmus + internship at Thomson Reuters was the specific position posted, working for a financial information company, and the opportunity of developing an international profile.”

 “My first week has been really nice. People are very open and kind. They introduced me into the company and they made sure I was comfortable. It is fantastic to work in an open culture environment.”

 

 

 


Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter


Follow Us

© 2024 Student World Online Registered in England and Wales 08074528
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact us