My name is Brice. I work in Abrivia recruitment as an intern since the 4th of September. It was the first time I left France to travel abroad for a long time, by the way this is my first job in another country. Today, I don’t want to make a simple comparison between the Irish and French offices. I would like to share my feelings after 1 month in Dublin.
In keeping with the legendary Irish punctuality, I arrived 20 minutes before the start. I was in Dublin only since the 2nd of September. In addition, French people have a reputation as not being the strongest students in English class, I was one of those. Consequently, my English was very weak and sometimes hard to understand my new colleagues. Despite this, the welcome was very warm and I felt quickly integrated into the team. In addition, Donal, our Managing Director showed me a presentation of Abrivia to show me the company values. According to my opinion, it is an important thing to understand corporate culture.
I noticed differences between office in France and Ireland. For example, during the week we have a dress code, common thing, but I discover the “Casual Day” on Fridays. In France, the Friday is often quieter than the other days and we don’t always haven’t these kinds of events. Nevertheless, I feel it is an anchor in Irish and Anglo Saxon culture. I enjoy it because, I don’t know why, it creates a “relaxed atmosphere” without damaging productivity. I really appreciate this. In my view, the tasks are very varied. I appreciate it because I develop a large panel of skills.
I also appreciate the work in a “small” company, in Abrivia the atmosphere is serious and friendly. For me, it’s the best equation, a virtuous circle for the company efficiency.
If I had to define my work here in one word, I could say: challenging. My manager often gives me more and more work. Its great I go beyond my “limits” every day and I progress. The end of the week I am very tired, yet I feel I am becoming a better employee, weeks after commencing in Abrivia.
As a young student/worker, I strongly recommend to my generation to go abroad. When you start with weak English like myself, the firsts few weeks can be difficult. However, if we make the effort to meet new people and to share, it’s a Win/Win for everyone. The first step is always the most difficult. Currently, I feel happy because I have met kind new people in Abrivia and outside too. In addition, I have more confidence in myself and I know that I will be a different and better open-minded person because of my experience in Ireland. Finally, I will be a good English speaker and I will have more possibilities in regards travelling and working around the world.
