Maria Corona is a SEDA student who applied to SEDA’s Internship programme and got a placement at The Technical Equipment Company Ltd (TEC Industrial) in Dublin. She tells SEDA News about her experience.

“I applied to take part in SEDA College’s internship programme in December last year and a little over a month later I started my internship in The Technical Equipment Company or TEC. I was working as an administration and marketing intern. My main tasks were to update and ensure the accuracy of the organization´s databases, provide secretarial and administrative support to management and other staff, use computer software to prepare invoices and financial statements, direct phone enquires to the appropriate staff members. I also worked on the upgrade of the company website.

It was a pleasure to work in this Irish company! My supervisor delegated the responsibility to my colleagues to explain my work duties to me. They were very friendly and I always felt a part of the team.

I feel very grateful because the sales team and everyone in the company provided me support all the time and looked after me. It was never a problem for them to explain things to me and teach me how to work in the office.

This experience was really helpful from the professional point of view. I am an economist by education and I was working as an administrator and marketing assistant, while also being involved with the Sales Department activities. So it was an amazing work experience where I was able to improve my professional skills and get lots of new knowledge.

It was not just my first opportunity to work in an Irish company, it was also the first time I got to work in an actual office, doing things I studied to do… The internship gave me the opportunity to put to practice the things that I learned at university and at SEDA while I was doing a Business course there. This internship made me feel a lot more confident in a professional environment.

It was also great for my English. I really appreciated this opportunity because everybody in the company is Irish and I practised, learned and improved my communication skills every day just by being with them.

I’ve always wanted to work in an office in something related with my career, but it is not so easy to get into a company here in Dublin when you’re a foreign student. The internship programme gave me this opportunity to be part of a team and get experience in marketing and administration. I am so happy for that!

I really recommended TEC Industrial as a good company for anyone who is looking for an internship. It is a good environment to learn and all the staff are friendly and helpful. https://www.oldhouseonline.com/ I’m also very happy with the service I received from SEDA when applying for an internship. Contacting the internship coordinator was very easy. I filled the application form and immediately I got a few internship offers. I chose the company that I liked and started my work experience – easy!”

All SEDA long-term students can apply for an internship free of charge – for more details about our internship programme see http://seda.college/internship/