My Internship Abroad in England

Hello everyone!
I was one of the 14 from the field of foreign and wholesale trade to be selected to take part in this year’s 10-week internship abroad program. My destination this year was SMA UK.
The SMA office is located in Milton Keynes, which is a fairly industrial town about 100km north of London. It’s quite easy to reach, though, since it’s situated right in the center of England.

Working in Marketing

Aftrer work we do a discovery tour.

SMA Solar UK Ltd. is among our smallest offices, with just about 16 employees working there, which was quite an adjustment for me coming from Germany. Suddenly it was so quiet and small and you knew everyone. I was able to work in marketing for the first 5 weeks, which was great because I hadn’t had the chance to see that department back at the headquarters yet. I had always though this department wouldn’t really suit me, but I was able to contribute a lot of ideas to various projects. And you can be proud when suggestions from ‘just an intern’ are actually taken seriously and set into motion. I spent the rest of my time in the Service department, where I updated various lists and had direct contact to customers over the phone.

Field Trips to London etc.

Maren does many trips in England.

Despite the endless stream of water falling from the sky in what turned out to be the wettest summer since weather records began, I was still able to explore England in my free time. I went to typical tourist destinations such as Bath, Windsor, Cambridge, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, which were all very beautiful and offered many things to explore.
But nothing compares to London. There was a very unique feel to the city as the Olympic Games were taking place. As soon as you stepped out of the ‘tube’, the city and the masses of people swept you away. You really had no choice but to go where the crowd was taking you. It made things a little hectic at times, but exactly that is what makes London what it is. There are always a lot of people, a lot of different nationalities and many beautiful places to discover. I was really only able to experience the Olympics at public viewing events, but at least I was watching the games directly in London. The English seemed to be showing even more hospitality than usual. Everyone was open and kind and you could walk up to nearly anyone and strike up a conversation.
All in all, it was a great time with many valuable experiences and it’s great SMA makes this type of exchange possible.