Weekly reflective questions

Week 1

1.       What is the name, size, and location of the business/organisation of your site?

The name of the company is Cornerstone Language and Leaning Centre. It is a very small company. It is also a new company. They started up and run this company in September 2010.

The company is located in airport road in a huge building. The building called IBQ and they have hired a whole floor. Also in this building you find a lot of business. Each one has its own floor. It is in Doha in Qatar.

I am very lucky to do the internship there, because they don’t offer any internship position, but I might work there after graduation, that’s why they allowed me working there. In the future I want to startup my own business, because this is a small and new busy, that helps me to see how to run a business.

Job description:

I will be manager assistant and will go to meetings with the manager and see how he mange things and manage employees. Beside that I will also do the accountancy of the company with the accountant.  Also I will help other colleagues and will do the marketing tasks.

Week 2

2. Describe the country where you do your internship. What does it look like, how is it to live and work there, how would you describe the inhabitants. What are the differences with the Netherlands?

Qatar is a small country in the middle-east. It is not that well-known country in the world, but in 2022 It will be one of the most popular countries and you will hear a lot about it on  TV.

The weather is wonderful here; the temperature is between 30 and 33 degree.

It is a multi-cultural country. You find a lot of people here from different backgrounds, which are working/studying or living here. It is a wonderful country to work at. A person who has a European passport earns more than Qatari people or other nationality. It is an expensive country, especially rent is very high.

In public business Arabic women have to wear abaya and Sheila, but in private company they can wear what ever they want to. But you won’t see people here wearing tops or short skirts.

The inhabitants are very kind, especially when they know you are a tourist here. They help you a lot. They are very open and helpful.

There is a huge difference with the Netherlands. The weekends here are on Friday and Saturday. If you are working in a private company then you might work in the weekends as well.  In the Netherlands every employee should have a contract. But here it is not necessarily to have contracts. The important difference is here they don’t pay TAX’s in the Netherlands we do.

Week 3

How the experience is meeting/or not meeting my expectations?

This internship has met my expectations! Even I got the opportunity to do sales. I love doing sales, so I am planning after graduation to work in a sales company.

Before this experience I’ve never thought of doing sales, but once I have done it I love it. Also I have been working in a nice Sales team.

But it is so different than working in a European company, because here is it not that official as in my last internship. Like how things go, meetings and payment dates.
In Qatar they don’t pay on the agreed time, you have to chase after them.

But this internship was amazing!

Week 4

How it is to live abroad and on your own?

It is amazing to live abroad, after this internship and my last year internship I have decided to work abroad. It is so nice to meet new people and live in a hot country. The cultural is so nice and people are so friendly and helpful.

It was easy for me to cope with the people over there, because we have same culture.

I don’t know how to cook, so my dinner was everyday fast food, but also I went out with colleagues and had couple of times dinner in a restaurants. It is cheap to eat there.

The difference with my normal life is that I like my life abroad more than in the Netherlands! Also things are cheaper there. Beside that there is not TAX’s! The weather is wonderful: D

Week 5

How do you fill you leisure time?

Being with new fiends, shopping, swimming, hunting and watched a lot of movies. I’ve spend a lot of time with old friends, which I’ve met last summer in London.

Week 6

What information could you take from your internship experience and share it in the classroom?

How easy it is for an EU-passport holder citizen to get a lot of things sorted and solved in Qatar, especially when you are a girl.

For example when I did Sales, I got a lot of students who wanted to take a course (of course they were Male students). With the EU-passport I was able to enter all school and do sales over there. I have a colleague (male) he is from Egypt and wanted to do sales at a Female school, but they didn’t allow him to enter the school, because his Arabic. I just entered it and I also entered all kind of schools.

Week 7

Imagine you are a manager within your organization. Propose some changes that would increase efficiency and working conditions or boost employee morale.

The changes:

-          Fewer employees
at cornerstone there work a lot of employees, which the centre can be working without them. When I will fire some employees, so we will have less expenses (salaries and bonuses).

-          Go global
cornerstone can go global and work together with other training companies. For example when I was working at my first internship place, there were looking for trainees or training company which can gives training to Dutch people over there.

Week 8

What have you learned about yourself, your employer and your job?

What I have learned about myself?

I have improved myself, am more confident now and more open than before. I have also improved my Arabic and English language. It is a great opportunity for everyone to improve their self. I found out that Sales is really what I want to do later on.

What have I learned about my employer?

I have learned how to be a good leader and at the same time a good manger, because you can’t clap with one hand you have to clap with both hands. That’s why it is very important to learn how to be a leader and manager at the same time! Every time I look at him I wish to be like him at the age of 20 years and having own business.

What have I learned about my job?

I have learned the value of having a job in your life. Because without having a job, you won’t be able to live. I have learned to be a good listener and be very patient and be good in communication.