My experience as an intern in TGS

Who am I?

I’m a third year student in Neoma Business School, in Rouen (France). I was an intern with TGS Global for three months. I helped with marketing and CSR as TGS had just joined the United Nations Global Compact when I joined.

I didn’t know anything about audit.  To me, an audit firm was just some guys wearing tuxedos and dealing with figures that I couldn’t understand but this internship and this firm are far different than I expected.

What did I expect?

I could tell you that I assumed that I was going to make coffees for the whole team, but actually, this was not the case.  I didn’t really know where to go on my first day but quickly, Andrew welcomed me and explained what I would be doing.

The TGS work environment was really pleasant – it was an open space with glass walls which was both personal and light because you could see everyone through the glass walls.

The tasks I had

International network work involves lots of travelling and early in my internship I communicated with the team mainly through email, sms and videoconferencing. I was asked to write articles and to work on the TGS website and social networks. If I had troubles with any task, I could just interrupt the team and they were always ready to help me fix it. I also have to mention that Andrew was Scottish, which means that I had to speak English all the time!

At the end of the day, what could have been a language barrier was quite enjoyable, it was a genuine experience and a good way to improve my English, on top of that it didn’t really prevent me from getting the job done.

What did I learn?

I learned a lot about marketing and communication: picture editing, video editing…When it comes to writing an article, I am convinced that I’m better than I used to be. This job also required creativity as we had to write articles in your own style while also respecting some guidelines about the positioning of the network. Andrew also taught me how to use planning software – perfect tools for those who have trouble with organisation – people like me!

The most essential thing that I learned was about management as I had a daily meeting: every meeting was a really crucial moment as I was given feedback about my work and we negotiated the new tasks to be done.

This was really exciting because day by day I was speaking a bit more, to the point I didn’t hesitate anymore to give my opinion and to put my ideas forward. This was done in such a way that it made me have much more self-confidence.

In conclusion

My internship was a good experience: I had some freedom in my work, I had varied tasks, from article writing to interviewing TGS network members. The whole team was really welcoming, I found out more about audit, I developed my confidence and last but no least, I didn’t make any coffee for my colleagues. lol!