Three guys, 12 months, lots of experiences: This is in short the outcome so far of the internships we’ve spent at PlasticsEurope in Brussels …
An internship can be what you want it to be, depending on the type of experience you are seeking. At PlasticsEurope, we were constantly provided with the tools to gain valuable learning experience and expand our skillsets.
From left to right: Jérémy Fouriau, Rebecca Briedis, Alexander Majer
From day one, we were warmly welcomed to a team comprising a diverse and stimulating set of colleagues from all over Europe. Both challenging and rewarding, the settings we had the opportunity to work in were stimulating and the learning curve was steep. Our contributions to the team were taken into account, and our opinions were given equal footing.
Respectively, we worked as part of the Public Affairs and Consumer & Environmental Affairs departments, covering topics within advocacy, communications, and research. We had the opportunity to contribute to some of the biggest projects within PlasticsEurope at the time of our internships, be it the Circular Economy, the European Youth Debates, the development of the Public Affairs Strategy, marine litter prevention or the extension of the social media platforms. At the same time we learned the importance and the complexity of the decision-making processes within a large European trade association.
In addition to this, the fact that we all began our internships at approximately the same time and that we all have similar backgrounds, made it easier to communicate across our respective departments and teams, adding to the overall experience. PolyTalk 2016 was the perfect example of this. One of PlasticsEurope’s key events,PolyTalk gave and still gives us the opportunity to work on all features of organising such a major, all-encompassing project.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our experience at PlasticsEurope and we can highly recommend an internship here to graduates or to anyone seeking a first experience within interest representation at the European level. Hiring young interns ensures that fresh ideas, multi-cultural background and latest trends are brought into any organisation.