Hello everyone! My name is Faith Richardson, and I am currently an upcoming junior here at Pitt. I am a communications major pursuing a certificate in public and professional writing! I am unsure where I want to take my career post-college, but I know I want to work and make a difference abroad.
The broad aspect of my major is actually one of the biggest reasons I chose to participate in the international internship program (IIP). I am more than thrilled to begin my trip to Sweden, as Stockholm is one of the most forward thinking, sustainable places I know. My internship is with a small startup called Ecobloom Technologies, where I will be their new International Communications Intern. Some of my responsibilities will include creating marketing and advertising materials, coming up with PR campaigns, and working with some aspects of sales.
This will be my second professional internship, but a much different experience from my last. I worked for a real estate company in my hometown and while there, I went on many errands, organized offices, and developed marketing material for the company. Since I was still in high school, the internship was generally a lot of small tasks such as cold calling potential clients and throwing away old files. The marketing materials were more limited and was a task I was given in between the other nitty gritty work. So, I believe this internship in Sweden is going to be vastly different. Because the company is a startup, there are a lot of areas for me to make a meaningful impact. I hope to develop my professional skills and tailor them to a global level. I also hope to be able to walk away from this internship with a variety of work samples including writing and graphic design.
More of my professional background includes my employment at The Pitt News. For the last year I have maintained my own blog on the news website for students to read and browse at their leisure. I wrote about my discoveries in Pittsburgh since it is a new city to me, and I am not originally from the area. Next year, I will continue writing in a different desk called Opinions where my job is exactly how the title sounds. I will write opinion pieces, also posted digitally on the News website. This writing experience definitely sets me up well for this internship as all communications work typically involves some form of writing. I do, however, hope to learn how to tailor my writing to foreign audiences and be able to communicate across cultural differences.
Finally, my work as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant last semester definitely will help me in the office. I have learned from this experience how to take initiative and communicate to higher ups in a professional, clear way. I have also learned how to better interact with my peers from this experience, so I think communicating with other interns will be more smooth because of this previous job.
From my understanding, the company is so small that only one other person does all of the communications work necessary to keep their reputation and image alive and well. So I believe I will be given a wide variety of tasks which is actually really great for me and my degree. The communications degree at Pitt (BA) does not require you to specify an area of interest or study, so my potential job pool is much larger than someone who declares a focus in PR, for example. This is a perfect internship for me, as I will gain experience and practice in multiple industries at once!
I’m nervous for my first day, but I think it will go smoothly once I develop a routine and get used to life and commuting in a foreign country. My hope is that this experience will not only give me professional work experience in my field, but that I will also be able to take away a new perspective on culture and travel. I want to gain a more rounded worldview, and what better way than to immerse myself completely in all aspects of Swedish life, right in the city center?
In my research for this trip and experience, Stockholm is extremely advanced in environmental issues, so I also hope to become more educated on sustainable solutions during this trip. America is sustainable in some areas, but lacks the determination and creativity that Sweden demonstrates on their global emissions reports, innovative developments, and overall quality of health. So, I hope to learn and grow from this experience and am so excited with where it will take me.
Until next time!