Intern in the Company: Necessary Evil or Benefit

One of the strategic components of ensuring a quality workforce in, for example, Germany, as well as across EU member states and in the Anglo-Saxon business world, is the opportunity to undertake internships in companies. An internship is a mandatory part of regular studies and has already proven to be successful in dual vocational education. The goal is clear: connecting theory with practice and expanding knowledge and skills in the chosen field. Practice makes perfect, and everything else is just theory. In Germany, young people have not had such good prospects for a long time to find a company where they can complete their internship or a facility for dual vocational training. Therefore, their professional future seems promising, as with appropriate engagement and results, they can be sure that the company will also employ them. On the websites of large, medium, and small enterprises outside Croatia, numerous internship positions can regularly be found, which is logical, necessary, far-sighted, strategically important, and economically beneficial. So why is this well-known and well-established business practice in Croatia largely avoided?

Far-sighted and Strategically Important Far-sighted and strategically important is considered medium and long-term planning for the development and survival of companies. Without delving into the strategies of our companies, whose details are mostly business secrets, and with a superficial glance at the websites of many Croatian companies, one gets the impression that they are not too interested in the new generation that will one day become their employees and that they actually perceive it as a burden. The strategic importance of mandatory integration of internships into companies is supported by at least two strong arguments: The first is that high school students and university students, thus future professionals, solidify and expand their theoretical knowledge in daily business and real situations, learn how to solve problems, create new values, and build relationships with clients. And business exposure strengthens, shapes, and makes them experienced, which is crucial. The second argument is that entrepreneurs and the success of companies depend on new generations: the transfer of knowledge, acquiring new skills, changing perspectives, fresh ideas, and new professional knowledge, as well as fostering an innovative spirit, are just some of the undeniable advantages for both sides.

Economically Beneficial By introducing internship and/or dual education programs, companies can reduce the costs of hiring adequate employees (whether someone from the company is dealing with it or expensive ‘headhunters’ are engaged), shorten the search time, and thus reduce the loss of money due to uncompleted work or perhaps a lost client. Nothing is more financially painful than the cold acquisition of new clients and/or losing old ones! The editor-in-chief of the British magazine Elle, Lorraine Candy, wrote in the July issue that she approached mentorship in the company in a completely new way and turned the idea of caring for young people at the beginning of their careers upside down. She stated that she sees the young members of her team as someone who shows her the further path in her career and serves as a source of advice. She calls it reverse mentoring. Not only does she consider it extremely beneficial, but she also stated that it has brought her incredible fun and joy during the workday. When there are so many positive arguments for internships in companies, why does the internship here still mean issuing a piece of forged paper for the completed internship, with neither the intern nor the company benefiting from it? What are companies in Croatia, i.e., their managers and human resources department heads, afraid of? That they will become better at organizing time, dividing work, efficiency, and innovation?!

The Failure of One Student Recently, a young, highly educated Viennese student from an economics program in Austria tried to arrange an internship at one of the banks in Zagreb, first at the Croatian National Bank (HNB). HNB verbally committed to three months about ten months before the planned start of the internship. However, since the student’s home faculty required a written confirmation, a dramatic turn of events occurred when he requested it to be issued. Not only was the confirmation not issued, but the promised three months were shortened to one. What irresponsibility! That student loses a semester if he does not manage to arrange another eight weeks of internship. To follow the Croatian tradition, this student adapts to the circumstances and begins his search through his father’s business and old student connections. The result of inquiries at at least ten Zagreb banks was a series of questions posed by those responsible in the human resources manager position: ‘So what does he want in Zagreb? Yes, yes, we have had such inquiries before. No, we generally do not do that. Someone needs to take care of that person, and no one wants to do that.’ Honest answers, but… In addition, there was an impression that those responsible thought something was wrong with this foreigner when he came to us while banks across the Union were available to him. But the fact is that the student in question chose Croatian economic language as a mandatory subject for his studies. In accordance with that obligation, he really must complete, not fake, an internship in one of the Croatian financial institutions. It is indeed rare for someone to want to learn Croatian at all, and they have absolutely no roots in our country! Structuring, strategic planning of the organization, far-sightedness, and keeping agreements have not proven to be Croatia’s strengths. Spontaneity and flexibility in adaptation are. However, long-term and continuous building of society, the economy, and knowledge creation lie precisely in the aforementioned qualities.

Failing the Test If we take the example of this student, we can conclude that our financial institutions have failed that test. They did not recognize the potential of a future economist, his knowledge of other foreign languages, excellent connections in Austrian financial institutions, and the motivation and willingness to engage in the battle of knowledge and skills in unfamiliar circumstances and learn something from us as well. Isn’t it simpler, as part of the internship, to build a network of known experts across Europe and the world that you can activate at any moment if you have a problem, need a second opinion, or simply want to discuss with someone with different experience?

Zrinka K. Fidermuc Maler