experience travelling a lot around Italy.”

 

 

 

“Here in London everything is going pretty well. I live close in Victoria in a flat with other 3 guys (2 English and 1 French), the room is very small (London is very expensive) but from my window I can see the London Eye and Buckingham Palace...ok it will never be the same amazing view you have in Barcola at the sunset! The job is simply great, I work on strategic and financial analysis of companies during the acquisition process...it seems complicated and it is! I have been really impressed by Barclays as the environment is very friendly and they are very supportive towards me. I am really learning a lot and it seems that they are interested in making me grow as fast as possible. Ah I have forgotten...I work in Canary Wharf! This area of London is

absolutely unbelievable, they have skyscrapers everywhere and I work in one of them at the 7th floor...sometimes I think I am dreaming...But let's speak about serious topics! Night life! Unfortunately I do not have the opportunity to go out so often as I start working at 9 and usually I finished at 8 at least.(I do not have any lunch break and I have lunch in front of the screen...time is money!) So only the weekend is free to go out and enjoy. By the way here you can find every kind of pub, disco, restaurant you want. This is more or less my life here, I really miss you all and I can not wait to meet all of you at the graduation day in September. See you soon.”

 

 

 

“As for me,  finally I started working too...err... actually it is another period of learning since I have to learn how to use the information system that they use in the whole company to do the accounting operations but also to manage all the administration stuff...it is really complicated but they tell me that I am going well... I am spending the 9 working hours in front of the pc, but I do not have internet access and actually , with my mentor always with me I would not have time for that... I hope it will change in Cameroon, if not!!!...I arrived here on Monday at 9 am after absolutely no sleep and 5 hours of train , I was dead  but we started it anyway ....I am sleeping in a hostel that has the bed smaller than the one that I had in bled but as for the food it is quite good in the canteen ( where I eat in the semi restaurant instead of the big one ....ha ha ...sometimes with some of my bosses) in the hostel also , it is good ...the only problem is that it is really hot here in the center of Italy....mamma mia .....I have had the opportunity to speak with some of the guys who are working in Cameroon and it seems that they are doing quite well ...however the people here seem to expect quite a lot from me when I will be there. It is a good feeling. From what I have seen I won't have that much time free to go to my city, in Cameroon, but it is ok.”

 

 

 

“Actually, I have just started my internship at JTI two weeks ago. The office just relocated in the city centre of Milan. Before it used to be in the area "fiera". I took a room close to the office (only 15 minutes by tram) since the others from MBA17 are doing their internship a bit out of town.

 

I am in the strategic marketing department where I am supposed to help in the realization of the annual strategic plan which is due by the end of July.

So far I have been reading a lot of documents and presentations together with a lot of meetings with several people around. My department is made up of only 6 people and the entire JTI Italy is composed of 50 employees.

 

I am also trying to understand on what to write my thesis on for the master and these initial days are also a good occasion to clarify my ideas with the help of colleagues as well. These very first days are tiring and exciting at the same time. I am trying my best to be useful and the supervisor (who is actually the boss of the department) is spending a lot of his time in inducting me. I hope in the next weeks I'll have a better picture of the job in itself.”

 

 

“We are pretty busy with the internship. My project is really big (and depending on the degree of involvement with the other departments might be small or huge). Chris (Thompson, MBA17) is busy, too, with his Driver program. We are taking care of the Italian market....and if you need tyres for your car we have a discount! :)

  
Bianca Borostean

 

“A quick update from Florence. I am here working for one of the Big American Pharmaceutical companies (Eli Lilly), doing a project about communications. I am assessing how the communications, internal and external, are being done right now, where the gaps are, and trying to come up with potential initiatives to fill them with.

 

I am also checking how the Italian operation compares the company internationally and to the sector - and trying to find a best in class for communications amongst the competition. It’s a lot to do in the 3-month period I have, and I am not sure whether or not there will be a chance for a job afterwards.

 

It was really strange for me to start an internship, having worked for so many years. But really, doing this project is the same as being a consultant - I am talking to many people and reading a lot to try to

get an understanding of the business and how it works now. I have already double-checked some of my MIB materials to borrow for my presentation to the management next week!

 

Life in Florence is good. I am lucky enough to have the use of Massimo's (Foghin, MBA17) car in the week, so I can drive to and from work - about 30 minutes, more or less, depending on the traffic. We have spent very

little time in Florence itself so far, but we are working on it. It is nice that Marina (Kozlik, MBA17) and Janet (Apostolova, MBA17) are also here, so that we can spend some time together. Also at lunch times at work it means that there is always a friendly face.

 

We have 2 weeks off in August, and finish on Fridays at 2 if we can get in by 8. It’s a nice way to work, although it does increase the pressure as there is still the same amount of work, just less time to do it in.

 

From the class, we are all still in touch on the emails, and hoping to get together - maybe even in Florence - before too long. Hopefully we will see each other soon for a glass or two of Chianti in Tuscany.

So far, so good!”

 

Eli Lilly, Florence