Pieter Van de Peer, UA, Trainee in Brazil

Posted by admin in AIESEC Stories, International Internship Experience     

Aug
3

Hi travelers of the WORLD,

My  name  is  Pieter,  I’m  from AIESEC Antwerp. At the moment I’m doing an internship  in  Curitiba,  Brasil.  I’m  working  as financial assistant at Electrolux.  This  is  a perfect example of a Management Traineeship in the finance  area.  Since  I  work  in  the  controlling  team, I have a lot of communication  with  the  different  departments, so my financial skills as well  as  communication  skills  increased  a  lot. Working in this kind of department generates a lot of responsibilities and pressure but I learned a in the past 8 months.

The experience I’m currently living in Electrolux is very much in line with the  experience  I  gained in AIESEC as the VP Incoming Exchange in Antwerp from  2009 – 2010. People that have lived a leadership experience in AIESEC will  get  much  more  out  of their exchange because of their flexibility, communication  and  drive  for  results that they have improved during this leadership  experience.  This  combined  with  the international part of an exchange  will  make  this the most unforgettable experience, personally as well as professionally!

Another  important part is the contact with the local culture. To live this experience  to  the full I decided to learn Portuguese because if you don’t speak  their  language,  how can you understand their culture? And this was necessary because “Life in Brasil” is very different compared with Belgium, I  learned  a lot from the people here, so much that I will probably stay a bit longer!

So  my  advice  to you: take up a Leadership Role, go for the eXchange that matches with your future and blend in to the Culture. BUT be aware, it WILL be DIFFERENT!