Andrea Han – London Internship Management Track

Interned in London in Human Resources at the Elizabeth Arden Head Office, Summer 2015. 

Internship: I was an HR intern at the Elizabeth Arden Head Office in London. During my internship, I had various projects and assignments. My main project was to look over all the CVs from applicants for new positions at the head office, conduct phone interviews with all the applicants, and then schedule in interviews with the candidates that I felt were suitable. In addition to that, I created/revised different employee contracts, helped new employees get settled into the company, covered reception, analyzed all the consultant grievances and disciplinary letters for patterns and general themes, and created posters and cards for recruitment. If there were formal events or conferences occurring during the day, then I would help set up and have all the food ordered and prepared. Of course, there was always some filing or copying that needed to be done, so I did that as well.

I Learned: I learned that I’m actually quite good at adapting to new places and am pretty resourceful.

What Surprised Me: Just how beautiful everything really is!! Even though I knew London was pretty amazing beforehand, everything was magnified a thousand times when I got there!! Seeing things about the city is extremely different online than in real life, and there wasn’t one place where I wasn’t amazed. During my time abroad, I always loved taking little walks to random places and discovering new beautiful scenery and sites!! Even getting lost was a fun experience on its own, and that’s saying a lot.

Hardest Part: Their wasn’t anything really hard in particular, but one thing I did have issues with at times was talking to the locals and understanding some of the phrases and terms. There were some things that I said that they didn’t understand, and some things that they said that I didn’t understand. Although this wasn’t something that happened to me, in particular, a couple of my friends had warned me about the word “pants” because in the UK people say “trousers” instead of “pants.” The term “pants” in the UK actually means underwear, so things could get a little awkward when a mistake of this nature was made. In general, language was something that took me awhile to get used to, but it was definitely worthwhile getting to know the language and culture a bit better.

Best Part: My entire time there!! I enjoyed every single bit of it. It was really nice to go out and explore London during classes because I had created a list of spots to visit during my time abroad. During my internship, I loved working and interacting with all my coworkers. They were all so nice!!! In addition, I learned so much about HR and am looking forward to gaining more experience in this field. If I were to pick a specific time, it would probably be my weekend in Scotland. This was the best weekend I have ever had, and it was an experience that I will never forget. Edinburgh had one of the most breathtaking sceneries with the mix of the new city and old city. The Highlands were absolutely gorgeous, and it was really a great time just to take a break from the hustle and bustle of a busy city life.

My Tips: Plan your expenses wisely!!! Everyone knows that London is a very expensive city, but actually experiencing it is something really different. In addition, it does not help that you are going to be living in a really posh (but beautiful) neighborhood. Definitely keep track of how much you are spending, and plan budgets for each week. Furthermore, definitely take advantage of all the free things to do in London. For a city that is known to be expensive, it’s amazing that almost all their major museums and parks offer free admission (and a lot offer free admission to students). Plus, all their exhibits, in my opinion, are the best I have ever seen! There were a lot of famous pieces of art in many exhibitions, and it was really wonderful to see them. In addition, they have a lot of parks all over the city! Whenever I wanted to take a nice walk outside, I would always go to Hyde Park to relax and get a delicious whippy. 🙂

Hidden Gems: All the markets – Camden, Borough, Greenwich, Portobello, etc!! I absolutely loved going to the markets because they were all so much fun. Plus, there were some really great antique shops in the markets to shop around and browse. Although it can get a bit hectic and crazy with so many people (especially on the weekends), it is something just to experience. I ended up visiting each several times just because it was that good. I especially loved all the great food that was offered in the markets because it was tasty food and super cheap!! It can’t get any better than that!!