Week five marks the halfway point of my internship with the Hertie School for the Centre of Fundamental Rights. I have spent time reflecting on the past few weeks to see where I have improved professionally. I think, as a student, there is also space to reflect on how this has improved on an academic level. During the past five weeks, I have been able to learn some crucial skills. Transferable, technical, and global experience. These are skills that are potentially beneficial for me in the future for my career.
While my past experiences have forced me to learn specific skills. In Germany, I have noticed that soft skills are forcing me to improve upon more. Communication and clarity a skills that I have had to adapt to due to working in a multicultural environment. The Centre for Fundamental Rights mainly operates in English. Staff members and academic researchers come from all over the world. This is a challenge because each person has a different level of ability to speak English. I have had to learn to adapt to this environment and find new ways to communicate with others.
Early on, when starting, I learned that clear communication is essential when it comes to certain tasks. The majority of my work involves reading research articles or keeping up with current human rights issues. I am tasked with reporting and summarising key points. I have taken I class at Pitt called. Written Professional Communications. This class governed essential workplace forms of communication: emails, presentations, reports, and policy briefs. I have been able to utilise those skills from the class and apply them at my internship. Active listening and note-taking are other forms of communication. During meetings, I knew that it was important to be attentive to what was being said. If I were given a task, I would confirm what was said and confirm if the direction given where correct.
The Centre for Fundamental Rights is dealing with complex human rights violations that occur all over the world. The Centre also keeps up with any court rulings that are made regarding human rights violations. Countries that are committing human rights violations are a focus that keeps the centre active. Many people at the centre have a background in some legal or governmental field experience that consistently monitors global issues. Critical thinking is a key part of what researchers and professors do at the Centre. When it comes to the task I am assigned, I need to keep in mind to think more deeply about certain issues. I viewed very similar to being at university when it comes to the coursework.
The nature of most of my work involves me needing to think critically about human rights issues. When it comes to reporting on certain issues, the Centre has a specific way that it likes to write about its issues. I have had to learn the writing style through reading past press releases. I have had opportunities to talk with professors whom I have been with the centre for many years to learn more about the writing style. Besides doing research assignments, I have helped the Centre prepare for events. There is an upcoming Methods Workshop that the Hertie School is hosting. There will be professors and researchers from different universities across Europe attending.
The internship also included helping with the organisation of documents. Most of the work involved transferring paper copies into digital formats. I would spend hours going through boxes of paperwork and scanning them into a digital folder. When it came time to organise the digital copies, there were certain tools that the Hertis School used. I learned how to use WordPress, Notion, and Google Workspace. I have been able to learn how to use these programs and will find them helpful in the future. Their WordPress website did not make sense when it came to storing folders. I do not think that their system is the best.
Living and working in Berlin has forced me to adapt to a new culture. This experience has also made me challenge and expand my worldview. Understanding how directness is a strong value in Germany to noticing how communication is handled differently. These situations have taught me to learn how to deal with different kinds of people. I also have learned to communicate with others in the workplace who speak a different language. This could be through writing or using a translator app. Being in another country has allowed me to see how people are governed. This provided me with an insight into how the government structures work within Germany.
Agrawal A #02