Working in summer

"It is not the same to finish a Degree without having had a first work experience, as it is to finish it with that practical and human learning in your backpack," says Roberto Cabezas, director of Career Services, the Careers Office of the University. "Applying what you have learned at classroom will always be a plus when it comes to finding employment," he says. 

University students have completed or are completing more than 1,100 extracurricular academic internships (PAE) this summer (June to August). Marta Rodríguez-Sañudo, a student of Degree at design with the specialization program fashion, is one of them. "Doing internships is a unique experience, as it gives you the opportunity to learn firsthand how the sector works and you can see how to guide your programs of study to focus on the working world," she says.  

Marta worked in June and July at Ecoalf, a pioneer brand in sustainable fashion. There she has collaborated in the daily tasks of the design team, also supporting the department of pattern making and textile. "This opportunity started when the teachers encouraged me to contact the business once the project of the first semester", she recalls. "I am very grateful for all that I have learned. The experience of entering for the first time in a commercial fashion brand in plenary session of the Executive Council development of a collection has been impressive", assures Marta. 

Also Andrea Melgara student in the 5th grade of Biologyhas completed an internship this summer. Andrea is in the Science and Business Program and in July joined the group Vithas. "I have been collaborating in the different clinical areas of laboratory, helping in the activities of clinical analysis such as the preparation of equipment and samples, both in pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical phases," he explains. "The internship has helped me to apply the knowledge, skills, abilities and capabilities acquired during the course of degree programboth in the area science and business areas. I was able to experience firsthand what it is like to work in a team at work in a clinical laboratory multidisciplinary ", she says. This has not been Andrea's first contact with the working world. "I've interned every summer since my freshman year at degree program. For me it is one of the best experiences and an ideal complement to academia. The opportunity to put on internship all the knowledge acquired in class will provide me with better criteria when deciding my professional path.", he concludes. 

For Paola Vázquez-Dodero, this summer's internship was not her first. A 5th year pharmacy student, she has already worked in a pharmacy office and at an R&D laboratory . "This year I wanted something different. At Zambon I was able to learn more about the pharmaceutical business and in particular a department that, as a student, is quite unknown, thus broadening my vision of new employment opportunities. In addition, I have been able to meet great professionals from other Departments who have also dedicated their time to teach me what their work consists of," she explains. For six weeks, Paola was part of department Regulatory Affairs & Quality at business. "At the beginning of my internship I spent several hours training, reading documents provided by my colleagues and attending online courses on topics related to department. My tasks, afterwards, have been, among others, to review expired SOPs and update or extend them, include new warnings in technical data sheets and package inserts of Zambon medicines, create a checklist to audit based on good manufacturing practices and good transport practices or analyze the fees and the budget from 2014 to 2022," she recalls. 

"In my case, doing an internship has helped me to get to know the different employment opportunities that Degree offers in Pharmacy, which are many. That's why I think it's very useful for people who, like me, like everything and find it hard to decide what to do with our professional future," she says. 

Pilar Torre de Silva is at agreement in recommending internships when you do not know where to direct your professional future, or "when you have studied a degree program with less practical contents", as in her case. Pilar is in her 4th year at Degree in Philosophy and since June 1 she has been doing a two-month internship at Ernst & Young's Madrid office. There, she works in the Human Resources department . "I am dedicated to a part of the selection process of juniors (recent graduates without work experience): screening resumes from the platform, telephone screening and dynamics of group. I also go to employment events and fairs to select talent," he explains. 

Pilar finds it difficult to summarize everything she is learning. "I now know a lot about selection processes and types of profiles, what matters in a CV and the mistakes you can never make at selection process in a Big Four," she says. He adds: "By talking to thousands of junior profiles, I get a closer look at the common characteristics of people my age and the differences that exist depending on the Degree they study and the province they live in. On the other hand, I have learned how people work within a business, the complexity of economic operations, the importance of the environment of work...". 

Alba Zabalza 's work is similar. She, who has just finished her 3rd year of Applied Management, is doing her summer internship at department People & Culture at business Nordex Energy Spain - Acciona Windpower. "My tasks are especially focused on the selection of staff: publishing, managing and following up on offers, filtering applications and conducting interviews, feedback, preparing new hires... I also report on the objectives and achievements of department and provide support with the preparation of quality audits," she explains. 

"Of course I am learning a lot about selection and management from staff, but, above all, doing this internship is helping me to see what I like and to know myself better, to realize how important it is to constantly try to learn from the people around you, to be proactive and decisive, to speak languages, to know how to work in a team and deal with people and to want to do your bit wherever you are," Alba concludes.

In the case of Carmen Landa, her choice of internship at Igeneris had to do with her interest in entrepreneurship and strategy, two areas in which the business is focused. A 4th year student of the Degree in Economics, Leadership and Governance, from the School of Economics, Carmen has been integrated for seven weeks in the team, whose function is to generate new lines of business for companies. "Although the tasks are very varied (from participating in workshops with the entire office to creating the presentation to be shown to the committee executive of the business), they all have one thing in common: creativity," she explains. 

"I'm learning to structure my head, to plan my ideas and how to carry them out," Carmen acknowledges. "I think that doing internships is the best way to apply the knowledge acquired at class and give it meaning. Doing them in the summer is a decision that requires a certain sacrifice but allows you to do them without stress or pressure, which makes you truly live the experience and get to enjoy it 100%," she concludes. 

Beixi Ausín, who this year will study 3rd year of Degree in History and Diploma in Archaeology, has done no more and no less than three extracurricular internships this summer: in the file Real y General de Navarra, in an excavation of a medieval Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love in Peralta and in the Jorge Oteiza Museum Foundation. "I got all the internships through Career Services' Portal from employment . Precisely, I chose the University because I consider that it offers many professional opportunities regardless of the degree program you are studying," says Beixi.

At file in Navarra, she has worked in archival work, specifically taking inventory of 20th century court cases, among other things. In the Peralta excavation, he applied restoration and archaeological techniques. "It was essential to work as a team and rotate tasks, including keeping a field diary, chopping, shaping floors and walls, lowering the ground level, etc.," says Beixi. The last internship of the summer was at the Jorge Oteiza Museum Foundation, where she worked on cataloguing and inventorying books. Knowing so many different fields will help her to define her professional degree program . "The internships have helped me not only to train myself at a professional level, but also at staff: to be an organized, meticulous person and above all not to be so demanding with myself. I also learned a lot from my mistakes and how to work in a team," she says.

Internships and an international experience

Our students also have the option of doing international internships. This is the case, for example, of Armando Briquet, student , a 4th year Audiovisual Communication student. During his exchange at the University of Texas at Austin, a classmate encouraged him to apply for a summer internship at business Back Roads Entertainment, dedicated to development and production of non-fiction entertainment programs for television and streaming platforms. Armando did, and from May through August he is working there. "In the team we are in charge of developing new ideas for non-fiction training programs. We also write and draft one sheets and pitch decks for different programs, which are then used as sales documents for networks and video-on-demand companies," he explains.

Although Armando has always been interested in fiction production, he believes that"it is necessary to know and know how to work in all aspects and areas of the industry." "I decided to work at Back Roads Entertainment because my knowledge of non-fiction entertainment was very scarce," he admits. He explains, "Thanks to working closely on various projects and developing new ideas for television, I'm learning a lot about the industry in the U.S. and about the sales process that goes on with networks and different OTT services." "Working in companies before graduating not only enriches our profile work, but it is also a way to apply all the knowledge obtained in the classroom and reinforce it through a professional internship ", assures Armando.

For his part, José Antonio Latorre, who next year will begin the 4th year of the double Degree in Law and International Office, is doing an internship during the summer at the mission statement Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. "The mission statement of the Holy See is a diplomatic delegation that works actively with the United Nations. In this forum, the Holy See brings the millennial experience of the Catholic Church with humanity, and assists the international community in promoting peace, human dignity, and humanitarian financial aid ," he explains. José Antonio works covering the meetings of the committee Security and the first committee of the General Assembly, and on issues related to cybersecurity."Every day I learn about the internal dynamics and the process of resolutions. It's very interesting," he says. "Sharing my time with colleagues from mission statement is an opportunity to grow and learn from everyone. The environment at work is multinational and everyone brings a unique and different background ," he says. And he concludes: "It's been a unique, but demanding experience. I am learning every day, meeting many people and participating in events. It is helping me to develop my diplomatic skills and to learn about international geopolitics. It is an honor to be here and I will always be grateful for it". 

"Living abroad enriches you as a person and having an international experience is incredible," says Teresa Pérez. A 2nd year nursing student, Teresa is doing, together with her colleague Sara Velasco, a exchange clinical internship at the Nossa Senhora da Arrábida Hospital in Azeitão (Portugal). "The adaptation to a new city has been very good and the staff of the hospital has helped us a lot. Both the patients and their families have been very understanding with us, despite the language barrier," she explains. 

These internships have helped Teresa change her views on certain clinical areas:"At first I was not attracted to the idea of working in palliative care, but day after day it has been winning me over. They help you give another meaning to life, as well as learning practical things that I will develop in my life as a future nurse," she says.

Paula Spang department , who this year will study 6th year Medicine, has also done an internship outside Spain: during the month of July she has been working in the general surgery department of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville (Florida). "I have been fortunate to be able to be in a operating room with exceptional surgeons, and see surgeries of a very high level of complexity. In addition, I had the opportunity to perform research, which made me learn about the research that a clinician develops on a daily basis to answer the questions that arise while carrying out his or her medical activity," she explains. For Paula, it has been precisely in this work at research where she has learned the most. "In the United States, medical students do a lot of medical research , both to enter the School and once inside. I have learned a lot about how instructions works from data and how a clinician analyzes his or her medical activity and answers questions through statistics, for example," she adds. 

"I believe that this internship subject completes the training of the medical student in a very beneficial way. Going abroad and being able to verify and put on internship what you have learned is very rewarding and enriching," Paula says. 

Access to other realities and meeting with other people.

But it is not only Degree students who have the option of an internship during the summer. Students of Master's Degree also often complete their academic training with a few months of work experience in one of the fields seen at class. This is the case of Santiago Avila, recently graduate of the Master's Degree in programs of study Curatorial taught by the Museo Universidad de Navarra, who worked for a month at the Isabel and Agustin Coppel Collection (CIAC) in Mexico. "I was very interested in training in the field of curatorship in Latin America, so doing an internship in Mexico City gave me the opportunity to visitmeeting , one of the most lively and interesting art circuits not only in Latin America, but also in the world art circuit. Getting involved in CIAC was also an opportunity to understand how a collection that is interested in renowned contemporary artists but also bets on works of art produced by Ibero-American artists works," she explains. 

Santiago is Ecuadorian and confesses that "it is always a challenge to approach a new context and learn the codes of behavior and the logics of interaction". "In the internship I learned not only the functioning of a living collection, which is acquiring work and at the same time generating research within the field of contemporary art. It was also the point of access to other spaces and people within Mexico City," she acknowledges. "These practices have allowed me to learn about a large-scale circuit, full of particularities. It has been a very pleasant experience, since the team integrated me, from the beginning, in their process of work and research", she concludes.

Miguel Ángel Castro is also a student at postgraduate program. In his case, he is a student of the Master's Degree University Degree in Industrial Engineering, which Tecnun offers at campus in Madrid. Since June and until December, Miguel Ángel is doing an internship at Cepsa. He works in the refining investment office where he is dedicated to the management portfolio, process automation and data analysis. "During the Degree, which I studied at the University of Seville, my specialization program was energy so a business in this sector seemed like a very good option to be my first professional experience," he explains. In addition, as he wanted, Miguel Ángel is, at the same time, carrying out his project Fin de Master's Degree "on one of the projects currently being carried out by business, closely linked to the energy transition".

"These internships are helping me to get by in the working world, getting to know how companies work and the relationships within them. I am learning a lot about the Oil and Gas sector, both in the technical and economic-financial fields," he acknowledges. "Large companies in which professionals are highly specialized, are looking for young people who are eager to train, so it is easier to approach them through a internship program. And summer is a time when there are vacancies that do not appear during the year, since these are periods with a lower influx of candidates and in which you can get very good opportunities with a little sacrifice," he says. 

A first work for recent graduates

Another way to get started in the working world is through the Programa de Iniciación a la business (PIE), the University's own degree scroll aimed at recent graduates. Before finishing their programs of study, many students take advantage of this opportunity and decide to start the PIE in the summer, which combines professional internships at business and an online training in competencies.

"From the beginning of the Double Degree, my mentor told me about the Hospital Pedagogy Unit of the. Clínica Universidad de Navarra. This field aroused in me a great interest and I had the opportunity to start an extracurricular internship the summer of 2021 that I extended during the first months of the course. At the end of this internship, I was very clear that I wanted to apply for the scholarship PIE", recalls Miriam Cirauqui, a graduate of the double Degree in Pedagogy and Teaching of Education Children, who has started the program this summer. 

"Under the guidance of Belén Ochoa, manager of the Hospital Pedagogy Unit, we offer attention to the school, psychological and social needs of minors derived from their status illness and hospitalization, mainly in the Departments Pediatrics, Oncology, Hematology, Psychiatry and Day Hospital. We also accompany their families, carry out different academic, leisure and free time activities, and act as mediators between the center educational, the family and the health center, and manage educational home care", explains Miriam. And she acknowledges: "The work is helping me to acquire flexibility and improve my ability to adapt, paying special attention to the daily condition of each patient and acting according to their needs. I am fully confident that this experience will allow me to learn and grow a lot staff and professionally, providing me with a great deal of theoretical and practical knowledge ".

"The internship is the best way to apply everything studied theoretically during the Degree or Master's Degree, with the advantage of being able to enrich yourself from the experiences of other professionals and raise all the doubts that may arise, having the opportunity to learn from each and every situation," he concludes.