Exploring London and Interning as a Local Working Professional
Overview of My Internship
During my internship in London, England, I am working as a Business Development Intern at Defy Brands, an organization that helps food and beverage companies improve their sustainability and regenerative intelligence for business growth and positioning. I am happy to be completing my internship alongside another intern from Villanova University, my home college in the US. It has been nice to share this experience with another student who is also adapting to interning in London. One of the biggest differences I have noticed in this experience is that London’s work culture is much more casual compared to my prior work experiences back home, as here I feel less emphasis is placed on workplace hierarchy and I am given much more independence.
I’m Alana Arcilla, and I’m a third-year finance student at Villanova University!
I have been enjoying my internship experience so far because my responsibilities and work structure give me a lot of ownership and flexibility. My role involves developing the company’s first business development system and outreach playbook to allow for company growth and future client engagement, which is a cool and demanding job for a 20-year-old interning in a foreign country. I am a part of a very small team, with meetings only including me, the other intern, and my supervisor, who is actually the CEO of the whole company.
What I find most unique about my internship is my hybrid work model, which is very typical in London. Each week, I only meet in person on Monday or Tuesday, and then the rest of the week I complete my work remotely. Occasionally, I have Zoom calls on my work-from-home days, but typically my boss provides all the feedback and guidance on what to focus on during the week during our in-person Monday meetings, and during my remote days, I try to achieve those goals in my own time.
Example of One of My Remote Days
Some days I choose to work from my flat, but often I enjoy using the time to get out of my room and find study areas around the city. On this day, I first take a 10-minute walk from my flat to Gail’s, a very popular cafe chain in London, and grab some breakfast. I have loved London’s cafe culture as a convenient food stop, and there are so many different popular chains to try, spread out all around the city.
My typical matcha and toast with butter order from Gail’s
Afterwards, I take a quick 30-minute tube ride to King’s Cross station to head to the British Library. The library is beautiful, with a giant display of books in the center and study areas surrounding it across multiple floors. I can easily find a place to sit and complete my work objectives for the day. The British Library is open to the public and even has extra study areas for anyone as long as they provide ID for a free Reader Pass.
Today, I focused on identifying Nordic venture capital companies and incubators for my organization to partner with, as the Nordic region has become a growing market for our industry. The week prior, I targeted my research on UK food and beverage companies to reach out to. I like that every week my research focuses on a different market or aim because it keeps my work interesting while letting me build a consistent system for finding and evaluating potential clients and partners.
My company’s website explaining the importance of the Nordics to assist with my prospect research
Each workday, I typically split up tasks with my co-intern. Our work includes researching potential clients to reach out to, drafting outreach messages, and identifying current events impacting the food and beverage industry. Most of my time is spent exploring company websites, reading online news articles, and organizing my findings in a shared Excel spreadsheet. If I run into any questions or issues, I can easily message my co-intern or supervisor, which is especially helpful on remote days when we are all working from different locations.
Completing my work in a public study area of the library
I tend to work in the library for a few hours, but I also take a lunch break in the middle of the day, which is very convenient since there are various restaurants and stores in the surrounding area. Lastly, if I have time at the end of my workday, I sometimes shop around or visit a museum, as entrance to many museums in London is free.
The King’s Library Tower in the center of the British Library
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned before, hybrid work is very common in London, and because of that, there are so many public spaces where people can work remotely. My supervisor is very understanding of my limited time in the UK, so she encouraged me to explore the city during my workday, even providing suggestions for work locations and activity recommendations. I have loved making the most out of my remote days to use the time as an excuse to explore the city and try to live like a local working professional.
