The call for summer internships in embassies and consulates granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MAEC) offers about 250 places for destinations around the world. This is an international opportunity that many students take advantage of to reinforce their language skills, live their first professional experience and get to know other cultures. 

Managed through Career Services and ISSA School of Management Assistants, Marta Sobrino and Elena Villalón experienced their own internships in the summer of 2019.

 

Marta Sobrino (ISSA'21)
Year 3
Consulate of Spain in Miami

"I was selected at my first choice destination, Miami."

She fondly recalls when a grandfather went to register his newborn grandchildren and was so grateful that he "even brought a bottle of champagne to toast." Marta Sobrino (ISSA'21) did a summer internship at the Consulate in Miami (USA), during the months of July and August. She went to Departments at the Civil Registry and Notary Office, and was also able to work with the consul's assistant director for the last fifteen days: "This was what I liked the most and what I learned the most from". 

It was his first professional experience and, although he thought he would not be taken because he was in his second year and there were many candidates applying for the internship, he was selected in the destination he chose as his first option.

He says that at different times in the work he resorted to what he had learned at the University, "especially from the subjects of Executive Techniques partnership and file". And he assures that this experience has allowed him to learn a lot.

As an amusing anecdote, she points out that, at the beginning, she thought everything would be so formal that she went to her first day at work very dressed up. Instead, she found a very familiar atmosphere and a team of "charming" people.

 

Elena Villalón (ISSA'21)
Year 3
Consulate of Spain in Tetouan

"Morocco is a country of contrasts"

She assures that if she had been able to, she would have stayed longer there. Elena Villalón spent two months as an intern at the Spanish Consulate in Tetouan (Morocco), where she worked at the Departments Nationals, Visas and Civil Registry. 

She says that a few months before choosing the destination she had traveled with her friends to Turkey, which made her feel attracted to a destination like Morocco, where there are so many "contrasts". She affirms that "the rhythm of work there is impressive" and that one of the things she liked most about her work was the attention to the public.

He learned a lot by "observing and seeing how people work" and emphasizes that being an intern is a privilege because "you can make mistakes". 

She confesses that speaking French made her day-to-day life much easier, and that it was very useful for her to know office automation tools, such as Excel, as well as to have taken courses in Communication or Executive partnership Techniques for the performance of her daily tasks.

She explains that life there is not very expensive and that she was fortunate to make friends with Moroccan girls and boys, because it allowed her to "get to know places and areas that I would not have been able to access on my own".

In addition to Marta and Elena, Andrea Avila (ISSA'20), a fourth-year student, also did a summer internship at the Spanish Consulate in New York (USA).