Report: Erasmus+ internship in Valencia

Because of my semester abroad, I had been living in Spain for 6 months already, which is why I naturally wanted to continue my stay. The two main reasons for me were the language and work experience. Since the beginning of the semester abroad I took language courses and I wanted to be able to speak Spanish fluently one day, and for that I needed more time. And of course getting a taste of the corporate world in a foreign culture to broaden my personal horizons.

A lot of coincidences. After trying in vain for a while to apply personally to different companies and unfortunately the professors in Valencia couldn't support me either, I was on the verge of relocating the search back home (the problem was mainly my inadequate Spanish Knowledge). A young startup founder presented her project at the university shortly before the end of the semester and I asked her if she was looking for interns or if she knew someone who was looking for one. It turned out, that her startup was funded by an accelerator that also funded around 100 other startups. She passed on my application to some of her colleagues and a little later I had several inquiries - and shortly afterwards my internship.

The main problem, as mentioned, was the need to be fluent in Spanish for most of the positions. However, I think that this is a problem especially in Valencia, as there are generally fewer companies there, and often very local ones. There are more large international companies in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​which is why English can often be sufficient

The main language during my internship was English, both with colleagues and at work itself, which is why there were no difficulties.
Since I had already been in Spain for a while when the internship began, I was well used to the cultural differences - although it must be said that these are not huge either, compared to extremes like Asia or South America. The Spanish "punctuality" was the only thing that took some time to get used to at the beginning, but I quickly learned to simply add 15 minutes to each agreed team meeting time and even then you are often over punctual.

The work experience. I had the chance to immerse myself in a very young startup and get a close look into all areas. The quick trust, openness and handing over of greater responsibility surprised me positively - theoretically, that could have happened in any startup in the world, but maybe it has to do with the Spanish relaxed attitude. In fact, I liked it so much that I first extended the internship and have now started to work there full-time.
Of course, a job right by the sea, a shared flat 1 minute from the beach, and months of sunshine were not bad either, not to mention the great personal connections that developed over such a period.

Surprisingly, the situation in Valencia was regulated very strictly and the people followed the instructions precisely. A total lockdown from one day to the other limited life to the apartment (and luckily the roof terrace) for weeks, but I was able to continue working as normal with my laptop from the apartment. As the situation improved, we gradually went back to the office.

Sure, I highly recommend it. Working and living abroad regularly gets you to the edge of your comfort zone and thus, enables enormous personal growth. And of course, you expand your job-related knowledge and skills, in general - but also especially by staying in another country, e.g. intercultural competence.
My main tip is to check for vacancies early enough and to acquire language skills early on, especially in areas where a lot of local work is done (preferably start already beforehand in your home country with learning the language).

I would do it all over again.

To anyone who is unsure, I would say give it a try! It doesn't have to be for long, a few months are enough, and visiting home within Europe is also possible in between. Later in life it becomes increasingly complicated to just live and work abroad for a few months and the benefit at young age is enormous.

And even if you find out then, that it isn't the right thing for you, no worries, you can stop and come back anytime - but then you have at least tried and gained an important experience for life.