Our colleague Mara is a trainee in the field of office management at syniotec. You can find ou here why she traveled to Malta and how her experience was!
Mara joined syniotec in 2021 as an office management trainee. As she is responsible for an ever-growing range of tasks there, we have enabled her to undertake further training as a European businesswoman as part of her training. For this, she traveled to Malta for 3 weeks. In this article, you can read about her experience whil she was there.
As part of my additional training as a European businesswoman at syniotec, I flew to Malta with Paragon and sponsored by Erasmus. In preparation for this trip, I filled out a europass online, which basically works like an international application portfolio. On site, selected companies could then view this application and select interns. Blueprint Periti chose me, so on my first day I set out to find the office.
The first day I arrived in Malta late in the evening and then had to go to my new job on my own the next morning. I noticed right away that buses in Malta are definitely different than in Germany – rarely on time and all equipped with air conditioning. Why? Because it is hot every day around 30 degrees.
My daily work in Malta
Since I am training to be an office administrator, I performed typical tasks for this area there. I was self-employed there as an office administration assistant I was responsible for document filing, folder structure, project management, research tasks and generally keeping the office in order. In addition to these activities, I was in constant internal exchange regarding the various projects in order to clarify their status and the necessary upcoming tasks with the responsible persons. Because updating the project status was also one of my tasks – digital and analog.
Exciting project for the international campus
I traveled with a friend from my vocational school class and we also shared a room together. On site, we cooked together with the other trainees every evening. Supermarkets in other countries are always a very special experience for me – Malta was no exception. It took a few days to get the hang of it and find the equivalent of plain cream, for example.
The university is currently building a new campus for international students. There we were accommodated. Much was still under construction, but the important things were already built: A large pool, modern rooms and communal kitchens, and of course a Starbucks right on campus. The future vision of this building project is to simulate a small downtown on campus, since any shopping facilities were not so easily accessible, despite the fact that Msida is quite central.
Lagoons, tours and unique architecture: My highlights from Malta
Over the weekend, we tried to soak up as much Malta as possible. The island of Gozo in the north was a particular highlight – early in the morning we jumped on a boat which, after a stop at the Blue Lagoon, went straight to Gozo. The Blue Lagoon is a bay with crystal clear water, which was pleasantly warm, especially at that time. It is a popular tourist destination and I now understand why. On Gozo, we opted for a bus tour to see as much of the island as possible before the ferry had to take us back to Malta.
We also visited Valetta, the capital of Malta. There was so much to see there that we were there for 3 days at once. I was especially impressed by the many old and authentic buildings, where nowadays small restaurants were operated. The many shaded shopping areas provided a welcome change from the hot sun that shone all day.
Malta’s architecture in general is very special – lots of buildings thrown together, with modern blobs in between the old walls. Everything is kept very tight, struggle for space and expansion of living space prevails.
Our office in Malta
Despite the buildings often looking old and inconspicuous from the outside, you are surprised when you come in; our office in particular had a narrow, inconspicuous door, but was very modernly furnished on the inside. The open spaces spread over 4 floors created a pleasant and modern atmosphere.
Here we found many parallels to our office in Germany. Open space, home office options and a rather small company with a maximum of 10 employees.
Of course, each room, or floor, was also equipped with air conditioning. Thus, working was very bearable, especially during the hot midday hours. The on-site team was very open and welcomed me well.
… and so I really enjoyed working in Malta in a small team, as well as the country itself with all its special features. An experience I would not want to miss – and I know where I can fly next time on vacation! 🙂
