In this blogpost, Lisa reflects on her internship at Strhive.
Why Strhive
After graduating from my bachelor’s degree in International Relations, I was looking for a place to put what I’ve learned into practice as I expand my knowledge of international development. Already during the interview stage, I felt like I was challenged in a positive way. Rather than a conventional interview setup, I was able to present my own approach to challenges within the field of international development. At Strhive, internships are very much focused on what you can bring and what you would like to get out of your internship experience, rather than being assigned a rigid set of tasks.
A day at Strhive
Working at Strhive means being surrounded by an enthusiastic group of colleagues. Immediately after onboarding, I felt welcome and valued.
Though this may sound cliché, each day at Strhive is different. Of course, there are several recurring elements such as client meetings and team coordination, the rest of the day is flexible. While all three pillars – Advisory, Propel and the Learning for Development Community – are connected by the overarching theme of organisational learning, the work specific to each pillar is diverse. Some days I was preparing materials for the advisory work while other days were filled with brainstorming about software development, website design or literature research.
In the weekly meetings, there is dedicated time and space to share any learning or insights from the past week. This can either be something you read, worked on, or experienced.
Learning at Strhive
My experience at Strhive was shaped by my personal learning roadmap and learning goals. At the beginning of the internship, you get the opportunity and time to reflect on your goals and how these can align with Strhive’s work. Throughout the design of your learning roadmap, you are encouraged to think out of the box.
My favourite part of the learning roadmap was being able to think of my personal projects. I decided to reinforce the way Strhive does internal knowledge management and update the website. Throughout the process, there is space reserved for regular reflections and check-ins, either when you feel stuck or when you need a second pair of eyes to review your work. The learning environment at Strhive is designed in such a way that self-development becomes an integral part of your internship experience, rather than an element that is pushed to the side.
Learning is part of Strhive’s DNA which is reflected in all aspects of Strhive’s work. For example, as an intern at Strhive, spending time on learning is not seen as wasted time. In practical terms, this meant being able to allocate your time to reading literature on organisational learning and knowledge management.
Therefore, if you are looking for a dynamic, hands-on challenging and international development-oriented internship place to develop your skills and knowledge, Strhive is just the place for you.