3 interns from 3 different countries and how they found their way to Casamona

 

YANG

Hola!, my name is Yang, I’ve been living in Barcelona for the past four years and came here to study Marketing. I settled down in Barcelona before the quarantine was introduced and made us stay at home for months, therefore I had little chance to go out and explore the city.
 
First, I started at ESCI-UPF, studying Marketing and International Business. But, considering that I just moved out by myself and had such a boost of freedom, I spent most of my time playing a lot of video games.
 
The act of getting involved with video games during my first year of university made me unable to keep up with my studies. Which, in some way, forced me to change universities and pursue a new opportunity elsewhere.
 
Now I´m studying Marketing at a private school at the University of Girona. Also, I am learning from the mistakes I made during my first year in Barcelona. After that, I decided to change my attitude and focus on making my studies a priority.
 
Although it’s a common fear that you can’t find time to do an internship while studying, this was no problem for me. I have my lessons in the afternoon which is perfect because I have the entire morning empty for a part-time internship. 

During my first couple of years studying, I did not apply for a single internship because I was more focused on training my time management and getting used to constant study.
 
After a couple of years living in Barcelona, my interest in real estate grew and I started noticing the city’s features. I've concluded that the housing prices in Barcelona were on a constant rise which made me eager to get involved in the real estate market.
 
So, I started looking for opportunities in the field. LinkedIn was the main platform where I searched for internship opportunities and I got rejected many times before finding Casamona. 
After applying, they got back to me with shortly after my application which made me a step closer to getting my first official job outside the hostel business that my parents run.

The day of the interview I was nervous, coming from an introvert, this interview was like a huge challenge for me. Luckily the interview went way better than what I expected. I wasn't feeling pressured, which made me very comfortable speaking to them and answering their questions regarding me and my background.

So far, it's been three weeks into the internship and it's amazing the amount of stuff you learn at Casamona. I´ve got to visit a few apartments in Barcelona. And it's been eye-opening how Barcelona has all these huge apartments hidden inside these old Catalan buildings. You would not expect it at all. 

Now I´ve put the work in for the degree that I´m studying by helping out with the social media part of the company and some Google Analytics to check the efficiency of the webpage.
The great part of working for a small family-owned company is that you get in touch with every single aspect of the company. For instance, I am in the Marketing and Management Contract Department but I get to do some rental, some sales visits, etc.

It is way better than what I expected. The fact that you get to learn so many different aspects of real estate in one internship. I really recommend it to anyone who is trying to apply to Casamona!

And, for the future, this internship will be really helpful for my professional life. At some point in life, everyone has to settle down and buy a property and, therefore, having experience in the Real Estate market will definitely help me when it comes to purchasing properties for myself.

JULIANA

Hi, my name is Juliana. I am from Germany and there I study Business Psychology and I came to Barcelona 3 weeks ago to start my internship. For me, it is part of my academic journey to complete a five-month full-time internship.

By keeping in mind that Business Psychology students have a lot of opportunities to work in different fields, like Marketing or Human Resource Management, I wanted to try something I have not done before and gain as much experience as possible.

So, I searched for internship offers all around the world, but since I always loved the sea and the sun, Spain was my first choice. 

In the quest to find an internship, LinkedIn was the main website. I submitted my application to every company, which had an offer that could interest me. I was always wishing to get a positive review.

Then, I found Casamona´s job description about the Marketing Department and it sparked my interest. One of the many features of my choice was the fact that their office is in the heart of Barcelona which made it even more interesting.

So, after seeing my CV, Casamona contacted me and gave me one task I needed to complete within a week. The assignment consisted of creating an advertisement related to your unique living place. I was nervous and felt somehow under pressure because I was scared of not being good enough. 

I decided to film a video about the city, where I was doing at that moment my Erasmus Semester. Considering that I just had one day to film this, I sent it without any expectation to Casamona. I was not expecting them to reply, but somehow I was invited to participate in an Interview. 

Throughout the interview, I felt comfortable during this personal talk. The questions I answered were interesting and made me realize that besides being attracted to their job offer, I also strongly wanted to be part of their team. 

Not even one hour later I got the mail, with the acceptance of my application for the internship. 

Before starting my first working day I had a lot of thoughts in mind. Thinking about if I dressed right, if I had the right skills or if I knew everything I needed to know. 

But my worries dissolved the first second I entered the office. The team welcomed me warmly and they explained to me what my tasks were and helped me if I had any understanding problems. 

My main goal now is to gain a lot of experience and learn from my colleagues. I am happy that I chose Casamona International. Being part of the team means learning every day, completing various tasks and enjoying the sun of Barcelona.

PAULINE

Hello, my name is Pauline and I'm from France. I'm studying for a Masters in International Business in France and I did my Bachelor’s degree in Applied Foreign Languages at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France. 

My first internship was in a logistics company where I worked as a customs clearance agent and I wanted to discover a new professional sector and live in a sunny country after a year under the grey skies of Dublin. 

I hesitated whether to apply to Italy or Spain, but as I already knew Italy quite well, so I wanted to discover Spain. Moreover, I'm already bilingual in Italian and I wanted to improve my Spanish. 

Although the language spoken in the company is English, I still have the opportunity to practice my Spanish with my flatmate and during the activities I take part in in my free time.

To get to Spain, I searched for internships through many platforms. But, to Casamona, I sent my application to their email address. What I like about Casamona is that we’re multitasking often which is a positive feature that would make my stay more amusing. 

Now, I'm in charge of marketing and human resources, which allows me to see different sectors. 

Before arriving at Casamona I was worried that the course would be boring because my previous placement was very repetitive. But, all of my fears disappeared when I saw that at Casamona we have a great amount of dynamics. 

Here we're always busy, and we have to be versatile - it's exciting! In fact, we have a variety of tasks that can be adapted according to our strengths. The company allows us to acquire a wide range of professional skills through practical tasks that give each of us a significant role. 

I also like the fact that the team is mixed and multicultural, we can learn a lot from each other and bring our skills to the others too, being from another country at Casamona is clearly a plus! 

As an HR trainee, I like the fact that we select candidates based on their motivation. We offer potential candidates the opportunity to do an assessment so that they can show us what they're capable of, regardless of their experience. Also, it allows them to practice a concrete task and understand what's expected of them. 

As for a place to stay, I found my accommodation quickly in Barcelona. It is close to where I was doing my placement and I found that It's quite easy to find accommodation in Barcelona compared to Dublin. 

So, in conclusion, although moving to a different place, all of our worries can go away. It becomes easier when you start meeting new people, sharing your concerns with others and seeing that you are not alone. 

We hope that you enjoyed learning a little bit more about how we got to Barcelona and how it can be a great experience if you open yourself up and try something new. If you liked this blog and have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.