If you asked me 2 years ago, ‘what does an intern do?’, my reply would’ve been something along the lines of ‘a boring office job where you just sit still all day, filing pieces of paper that didn’t mean anything to me, doing the jobs no-one else wanted to do, and making endless cups of tea.’ But at Rickshaw, this isn’t the case at all! In fact, I probably made the least tea out of everyone in the team…shh.
How did this start?
I’ve always loved the idea of travelling and holidays – who hasnt?! Leading me to study Travel & Tourism at college, after 2 years of learning more, I knew it was the industry I wanted to progress in. In my 2nd year, one of the units studied was Responsible Travel, taught by Vicky – our managing partner here at Rickshaw. She always brought up Rickshaw in her lessons, which really appealed to me. The things they do at Rickshaw for their customers, partners, locals (in the destination) and staff in the office sounded amazing. She spoke about doing a 2-week internship at Rickshaw, and how if we were interested to let her know – so I did just that!
After spending 3 months working in America, I came home knowing I had an opportunity waiting for me, and a little before I even started – I’d been offered a 3-month paid internship! This was the best news for me, I knew this would really help push my career off the start line and create a whole new chapter for my now ‘adult life’. On my first day, I remember feeling nervous, I didn’t know what to expect and what my exact job role was. I’d also stalked the ‘meet the team’ page and could see that I was going to be the youngest in the office, this made more anxious, I didn’t want to be the odd one out. Looking back on this now I was so wrong! Everyone was so lovely and welcoming – I felt part of the team within my first week!
After 2 months at Rickshaw, working with different projects, attending laughing yoga and learning to hula hoop in the office, I got asked to extend to 6 months and, shortly after I got offered to become an ‘official’ permanent member of the Rickshaw team! 2 and a half years later – I couldn’t be happier to still be here working for such an inspiring company. It goes to show that hard work really does pay off.
What did I actually do?
I really couldn’t fit it in a paragraph if I tried! In my 6 month internship, I experienced so much. I think the best part for me, was having the opportunity to get involved in whatever I wanted. The team would always ask me what I did and didn’t enjoy doing and would make sure every task/project I was given – was one I was interested in!
I wasn’t put in one team, instead, I was part of every team – making my day-day job different every week, allowing me to gain new skills that I didn’t even know I had. From creating a new Costa Rica trip in product, online chatting with customers in sales, inputting supplier invoices in finance to editing and uploading pictures in marketing – the possibilities never stopped!
Why should you apply for an internship at Rickshaw?
Why shouldn’t you is more the question! You’ll improve old skills whilst gaining new ones, have a real insight into how a tour operator works and be part of all the different departments – giving you the chance to see where your skills and interests work best. Even better, you get beer O’clock on Fridays and join in with some crazy Rickshaw style events!
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