For the past 4 months, I had the opportunity to intern abroad in London at a company called CREOATE. During my time working there, I got to experience multiple cultural differences that enriched my time abroad and helped me immerse myself in the culture even more. One of the aspects that stood out to me is that people in London are more oriented to the “work to live” mindset instead of the commonly encountered “live to work” mindset. This fundamental difference contributed to a positive office environment where everyone at the office genuinely enjoyed their work, creating a sense of positivity and teamwork. Additionally, people leave at the exact time their shift ends; no one stays longer. I enjoyed this aspect because it creates a less tense and stressful environment and a more supportive atmosphere, with my favorite tradition being “Pub Thursday.” Every Thursday afternoon, everyone at the office went to the pub, a space for casual conversations before going home. People didn’t talk about work; they talked about their personal lives, football, or weekend plans.
Moreover, London is an extremely multicultural city, and this diversity is reflected in the workspace. During my time working at CREOATE, I had the amazing opportunity to work with people from all over the world. The company’s values definitively promote this multicultural environment, promoting diversity, respect, and inclusivity. It was amazing to see how everyone’s different backgrounds contributed to the team and helped the company achieve common goals by considering the dissimilar ideas of every person in the office. All my co-workers were extremely helpful and very interested in learning about me, my country, and my ideas. Working in an environment with these characteristics opened my mind and expanded my professional horizons.
One of the biggest lessons I got from my internship was the importance of diversity in the workplace. This may sound obvious, but once you get to experience it, it becomes extremely clear. One of my tasks was to analyze the companies’ statistics to come up with a solution to get more users on the platform. To do this, I had to use many different computer programs to get the numbers, put them into graphs, and then propose solutions to my manager for them to implement. This was not an easy task, so I had to ask for help. My co-worker, who was from South Korea, helped me create the tables with the different programs she had used in a previous job back home. Another co-worker from India gave me multiple ideas to interpret the data and draw conclusions because he had a lot of experience working with multiple data sources. Finally, my manager from London guided me to understand how my work was going to be very useful for the company. This was extremely helpful for me to understand how people with different ideas, knowledge, and backgrounds can help a company be extraordinarily successful.
People in London are used to living in a multicultural environment, and everyone I met enjoyed having people from all over the world living and working in the country. Londoners in general have an open mentality about it and enjoy learning from other cultures because it enriches the city’s lifestyle and traditions, which I noticed throughout the four months working with CREOATE, I felt very included all the time I was in the office, and it was very nice to receive a goodbye/thank you letter from everyone at the office when I left. I am very grateful for my time abroad, and to add to the experience, it was amazing to receive an offer to work for the company when I graduate.