With only two weeks left, I think it’s time to start reflecting on my experiences and all that I’ve learned. There’s nowhere I’ve learned more than at my job, so I’ll focus on that aspect of my experience for this week’s blog. In case you forgot, I’ve been working as the Talent Management Intern at a global innovation consultancy called Opinno. I’ve had a variety of assignments, all of which have taught me so much about one of my majors, Human Resources Management.

The biggest area within HR that I have learned about has been recruitment and the selection process. I often research places where we can find fitting candidates for open positions, post job descriptions, filter through job applications, and participate in interviews. In order to be successful, I first have to know exactly what the open positions entail. This has been really interesting because the positions can range from Marketing to Programming and everything in between. I’ve also greatly expanded my skills in evaluation. Before filtering through job applications or participating in an interview, I have to be informed of what are the most important requirements of the position. From there, I have to evaluate their skills and experiences to ensure that it meets what we are looking for. This skill has only improved as I’ve done more and more. This goes especially for interviews. I initially only sat in on interviews and would watch, or maybe have a small conversation in English (if one of the job requirements was a high level English). Now I regularly do phone screens (in Spanish!) with my supervisor there to help, instead of me there to help her. This was extremely intimidating at first, but now I think they’re fun and I really look forward to them.

This brings me to another aspect of my job: being pushed far out of my comfort zone. A lot of my tasks I had to learn by doing, and were much easier to sit and observe. Eventually I had to partake in them, and every “first” was extremely intimidating. Whether it was my first interview, my first employee induction, or a presentation, everything was intimidating to do for the first time. But I learned by doing, and eventually felt no nerves when completing these initially daunting tasks.

Everything was new and a learning experience and I gained so much from working here for the summer. I also got to experience being a part of a dynamic company culture, which I can actually say that I will miss. I’m very grateful to Opinno for all of the experiences and knowledge it gave me. It has been the summer of personal and professional growth, and it wouldn’t have happened without Opinno.

See you next week for my final blog on my time here in Madrid! :'(