Testimonial: Valerio Piazza, in the UK with the SEMP grants for Placement.

Valerio Pianezza, USI Alumnus, Master in Management and Informatics, has received an Erasmus Mobility for Placement grant (www.careerservice.usi.ch) that allowed him to do an internship at Support Service Group (Swindon, UK). Let’s hear from him about his experience, and thank you Valerio for your availability.

Hi Valerio, thank you for accepting our invitation for this interview. Please tell us something about yourself.

“I made my Bachelor in Business & Management in Torino, taught entirely in English. After it, I moved to Lugano to continue my studies with the Master in Management & Informatics. I particularly appreciated its internationality and its multidisciplinarity. During my Master, I participated to the Career Forum organised by the great Career Service and I got an internship opportunity in England. Always thanks to the Career Service, I obtained a full time job in Syngenta, Basel.”

Why did you choose England?

“At that time, my main objective was to find an internship, possibly in Switzerland, in order to gain some basic professional experience. However, I was open to any opportunity showing up and I took it. England, this case.”

What was the internship about? Please describe a typical day at the office.

“The company where I made my internship and wrote my thesis provided security services throughout all the UK, mainly manned guarding. As an example of one of my tasks, I operationally managed the labor force (security officers) and allocated them according to clients’ request. Another function I had was the overview and control over the cash flow coming into the company. Plus, I had to ensure that the process, from the issue of the invoice to the payment, was smooth. Generally speaking, the internship consisted of a job rotation, meaning a horizontal moving among departments of the organisation every 3-6 weeks. During my experience of five months, I worked in three different positions. A typical day at the office looked like this: beginning at 9, quick “warm up” practices before starting (computer and coffee), work until 13-14, lunch break and then again working until 17:30.”

How was the working environment?

“It was a very young environment. There were at least other 12 interns more or less my age (24), coming from other universities across Europe. In fact, it was also very international.”

Do you think such an experience will help you in your future career path?

“I can say that this experience helped me in my career path. When I got my current job, this UK experience played a fundamental role in the recruitment process, in terms of CV and language improvements.”

In which way has this period abroad enriched you, both profes- sionally and personally?

“From a professional point of view, it sharply improved my English skills and my capability to deal with tasks and to organise them in a more efficient and effective way. Personally, an experience abroad has always a positive impact on your mentality. It helps you to understand that diversity doesn’t mean only differences, but also unity with other people who don’t share your cultural background. It teaches you to be flexible and open and on top of that, you can learn a lot out of it.”

What did you like most about this experience?

“The daily contact with British people. And donuts, of course!”

What would you say to other USI students wishing to benefit from this kind of grants?

“Go for it. It can only improve your cultural background and give you higher chances when you knock at the door of the job market.”

Please describe your experience in 3 keywords.

“International, formative, enriching.”