Simone Malesan, 26 years, Trieste
Management Internship in Russia, Novosibirsk
May - July 2010

Responsibilities: external trade manager in a coffee and tea enterprise.

"My SIBERIAN DREAM

Soon after having obtained a master degree in interpretation and translation, with Italian, French and Russian as working languages, I suddenly realized that entering labour-market nowadays is kind of a difficult process to go through. Language knowledge is no more sufficient to take a good job for granted, as far as working experience is especially needed. Where could I put into practice my skills?

AIESEC was the right answer for me!

It offered me the opportunity to work in a russian enterprise not a simple trainee, but as a real employee, a member of the staff, and a sort of good new-old friend for all my collegues. I had the chance of meeting a smart and clever person, my director, from whom I learnt a lot. From the professional point of view, these are the advantages and the emprovements this Management traineeship gave to me.

But I consider the working part as one half of the whole meaning of my X-change period. Starting from the first minute, after landing in Siberia, up to the last morning at the airport on leaving day, I went through an unforgettable life experience, through which I received some very precious gifts: first of all, the people I met there, the hospitable and generous Siberians, with whom I shared some unique moments of happiness, and who helped me face all sad times and difficulties all along as well. Nothing would have never been the same without them, and I will never thank them enough, everyone of them knows how much they mean to me.

This is what I got from this internship: these two months have changed my life and opened my mind, making me discover the beauty of a country and the deep soul of its inhabitants."