I left Hymers in 2021 and I am now a final year International Relations and Spanish student at the University of Exeter. Over the last year, I have worked in Spain for 10 months as part of my year abroad and completed a summer internship at Aviva Insurance in York.

My love for Spanish language and culture started at Hymers College, thanks to Mr and Mrs Calvo-Jack who taught me at A-level. I continued studying Spanish at university and completed my year in industry in Bilbao, the Basque Country, last year. Bilbao is a beautiful city in the north of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, situated between the Pyrénées and the Cantabrian mountains.

I was fortunate enough to secure a placement working in a fully Spanish speaking office, in the sales department of a prestigious, industry leading, international railway manufacturer called Voestalpine Railway Systems JEZ. My main roles included sending orders and offers to clients across Europe, data input, analysis and client relations management, using the Cloud for Customer (C4C) system to manage new and existing clients and marketing events. I learnt about international trade regulations like the Incoterms that define the responsibility of the buyer and seller for exported goods.

These tasks challenged me due to the office staff only speaking Spanish and at times, even Euskera (Basque), which is the regional language. However, by the end of my year abroad, my self confidence and my fluency in the Spanish language improved tremendously. This is why I would recommend a year abroad or year in industry to all students if they have the opportunity. It gives you the chance to immerse yourself in another culture, make lifelong friendships, travel and gain a year of valuable work experience that will prove useful post graduation.

After I finished a fulfilling year in Spain, I was accepted onto the Aviva summer internship programme, where I worked in the Technology Change Delivery (TCD) team as the only project manager intern in the York office. Although the application process in the spring months was very intense, with multiple stages including online tests, interviews and one all day assessment centre, it was worth every challenge because I absolutely loved my job and learnt transferable project management skills including risk analysis and stakeholder management.

The internship started with a one week induction into the company, meeting the other interns, our buddies and mentors. Then from week two, our End to End (E2E) project started. It was definitely a practical, learning on the job type of role. I worked alongside stakeholders, business analysts and app developers to ensure the on time and within budget completion of an internal project for the Investment Wealth and Retirement (IWR) Business Unit within Aviva.

I did not have any project management background prior to this role, although I would say that previous jobs and the teachers at Hymers definitely instilled a strong work ethic in me that helped when I started the job. My advice would be to apply as early as possible and to stay calm and confident throughout the assessment centre. Just be yourself because anything pre rehearsed will be noticeable and will not do you any favours.

The office had a very social, friendly atmosphere, and Aviva provides their employees with wonderful benefits that promote a healthy and happy workforce.

Now, I am in my final year of university and looking towards my graduation in the summer and future career. I feel incredibly grateful to have been offered a position to return to Aviva as a graduate project manager in York, starting in the autumn. I am very excited about starting this new stage of my life and would love to help other students who are looking for any year abroad or summer internship recommendations, so please do get in touch if you have any questions.

Zala Korosec, OH 2012-21