Elizabeth Zola Iita

AT work

Interning for the Swiss-African Business Circle has been nothing but a great learning experience for me. When I started the internship, I had no work experience prior to the start of the internship. I was overwhelmed and nervous because I did not know what to expect. What made it more nerve wrecking for me was the fact that I would be working for a Switzerland company and that the internship would be virtual.

I was fortune enough to have gained work related experiences. I have seen a great change and improvement in myself. From working for the Swiss-African Business Circle, I have learned a whole lot of new soft skills that will help me better myself in the work world. The type of improvements I have seen in myself are, punctuality, good time management and I am still working on learning how to become more independent and how to take initiative.

My line manager Helina Bischoff was a great mentor. She delegated a task well and she was extremely helpful when one was stuck and did not know what to do next. She was incredibly open with me and let me know from the start of the internship that I could ask her any questions regarding the tasks I was busy with. The communication between the both of us was very efficient as we had up to two to three meetings per day depending on the level of difficulty of the task given. Although she was miles and miles away from me, she was quick to respond whenever I had any questions or needed confirmation on a certain matter. What I liked most of her style of working was that she did not baby me, in fact she gave me straight forward and honest feedbacks as well as challenging tasks from the beginning of the internship up until the end of the internship. This helped me in a lot of ways, such as boosting my confidence in working with difficult tasks and other things I have never dealt with before and learning how to do things right the first time.

Cultural Exchange

The Ochsner Family were my host family. We had regular communication and we would use WhatsApp or Ms Teams to communicate with each other. I am thankful for the wonderful intercultural exchange. I got to understand the difference between life in Switzerland and that of Namibia. Although we were miles and miles away from each other, we could still connect well. My host family were very loving and supportive and was an escape for me especially when I had a stressful or busy day, just a call with them would melt all the stress away.

Highlights and Lowlights

The poor internet connection at the beginning was a challenge for me but that got resolved. Another challenge would be working from home for two weeks, this was challenging because I had to adjust from working in an office to working from the comfort of my own home. My motivation levels were running low because I could not even see my colleagues and I was always tempted to take a nap anytime time but what kept me focused were all the tasks I had to complete and submit to my line manager. My highlights would definitely be attending the Swiss-African Business Circle’s Annual Africa Business Day 2021 and that the presentation and images that I created were showcased at the event.  Another highlight would be meeting other employees of the company and the excursion to Swakopmund.

My Future Plans

My future plans would definitely be to continue with my studies and obtain my bachelor’s degree in communications and to pursue a career in the communications and public relations world. I am so confident that I will excel in my work life because of all the skills and knowledge I have gained and learned from this internship.

Personal Message

I would just like to thank the B360 Education Partnership for this amazing opportunity that helped me grow, not just work wise but also in my personal life. I also want to thank Helina Bischoff and the Swiss-African Business Circle for giving me a chance to work for them.