My dream
I grew up dreaming of living in New York City for a while and having an international career. After graduating as an economist, and being more realistic, I hoped to find a job that would allow me to work with and learn from senior managers, while at the same time getting to know different disciplines. The traineeship turned out to offer me both. And I was lucky enough to realise my dream and live in New York during one of my projects.
The work
The projects were very diverse: I learnt about market mapping methodology, I worked on a synergy based commercial strategy in a niche market with two CEOs who had a common goal but sometimes opposing interests, and I was also responsible for improvements in a logistical process. Being a spider in the web between internal and external stakeholders taught me the importance of transparency, cooperation and reliability.
The projects
During my first project in Italy, I worked on the market mapping of a specific area in Italy’s northern region. Grouping actual customers and prospects based on their potential helped the sales team optimise their daily activities.
During my second project in Dordrecht, I developed, with senior management, commercial synergies in the French market between two companies. I performed market research in order to increase understanding of the market potential, key trends (on products, prices and services), competitor strategies, etc.
My third project took place in New York, where I spent six months working on inventory management and lead management. We were able to reduce our working capital exposure and increase our sales at the same time by optimising the available stock on the floor, without reducing the quality of service.
Lessons learnt
I learnt a lot about myself. In New York, for example, I discovered how I can deal with feeling alone sometimes in such a vibrant and interesting city. I also realised that I am not a “desk person”. The more dynamic the project I am working on, the more efficient I am. I also became more proactive: before consulting my manager when problems arise, I now force myself to write down possible solutions and indicate which of these I prefer.
After the programme
I am very happy to have learned all of this before accepting my previous role as Industrial Controller in the finance department at Arpa Industriale in Bra. After four years, I have been promoted to Business Controller with a wider scope, from raw material purchase price to customer profitability. Moreover, including the plant in Valencia in our scope gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in a different environment. I enjoy the responsibility that I have, the chance to grow and develop fast, and the international exposure.