At Incubator Studio, we like to educate, train & manage young people – & therefore try to welcome trainees when we can. It is no doubt quite a challenging experience for a small company like ours, but we always grow from it. We firmly believe it is our duty to participate in the growth of some young people, to help the development of some talents, to improve our understanding of the generations that follow ours.
During the last 5 months, we have collaborated with Laura, 23 years old, business school student. As her internship comes to an end, we wanted to share with you our journey from the first message she sent us, to her last week with us at Incubator Studio.
It all started with a spontaneous application...
After a 6-month internship in Amstelveen, Laura wanted to stay in the Netherlands. She was looking for a 5-month internship starting in March. She knew what kind of intership she wanted & during her research, she found out about Incubator Studio through the AGIR-FE directory. She therefore contacted us & sent a spontaneous application mid-December with her resume & an excellent cover letter.
At that time, it wasn’t on our roadmap to take a trainee at Incubator Studio. Indeed, in the last period we had had 8 trainees spread over 18 months & it had been quite a challenge. We had indeed spent a lot of time training them, identifying their personal & professional goals & coaching them. We had given everything, sometimes received nothing. We had serious cases, discouraging cases & wonderful collaborations.
After this busy period, we had decided to take a break from trainees & solely focus on our business in order to support its growth.
When we received Laura’s application, we made it clear to her that joining the Incubator Studio adventure would not be easy. We have high standards & it is something that does not appeal to everyone. We told her that maturity would be essential to ensure that she, like us, could work well together. Still as enthusiatic as ever, she demonstrated her motivation & professionalism throughout our following conversations. Convinced by her personality & professionalism, we offered her an interview!
… Then we got to know each other...
Aurélie did an hour long interview with Laura in which she explained to her in details the expertises & services offered by Incubator Studio, the agency’s goals & the way we work as a team & with our clients. Laura demonstrated during the interview her clear motivation to join Incubator Studio. She had an environment-related entrepreneurial project in mind that fell within the areas of expertise of Incubator Studio, she was really determined to learn from us & develop her skills in order to give life to her project. As always, we were happy at the idea to share our knowledge & doing so, help her in the realisation of her project.
After an enriching interview, which allowed us to learn more about her, we asked her to complete a guided reflection about her professional project in order to strengthen its roots. A deep self-reflection which helped her ask-herself the right questions & set the basis of a sustainable business. After testing her on her writing skills, it was important for us to know what her objectives were for her internship at the agency. Indeed, our idea is to make the trainee do what is at the crossroads between her talents, expertise, development areas & professional goals.
Guess what? She convinced us & she got the internship! Never say never 🙂
… To finally grow together
Incubator Studio is a system with processes, automation & structure. We have a rigorous approach that we apply both to our clients & our own business. Welcoming a trainee therefore does not require us to adjust our organisation. We already have in place all the tools, trainings & methods required for the good supervision & conduct of an internship. This structure allows us to save time but also helps trainees to organise themselves & flourish within the agency.
During the last 5 months, in line with her professional goals, Laura worked on diverse & various projects. She had the opportunity to develop & learn news skills in webdesign & brand design thanks to Coralie. On the other hand, she improved her writing skills, learnt more about branding, how to create & grow a business from scratch with Aurélie. Moreover, it was important for us to organise a monthly review meeting to take stock of the situation & see if she was still flourishing in her work & adjust what needed to be adjusted.
Laura’s internship is now coming to an end. We think she enjoyed her journey with us. And so did we! According to her words: “I couldn’t have found a better internship. I have learned so much from both of you in the last 5 months. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to train me & for sharing valuable skills & knowledge with me. Kindness, empowerment & self-push have been the key words of this internship. You have been inspiring role models & I thank you for the trust you have placed in me.”
