BenCham - Globi: Project World Traineeship
From October 30th to November 3rd, BenCham welcomed 15 students from the Netherlands who came to Beijing under the umbrella of the Globi world traineeship project. This traineeship allowed them to learn about “flexibility in thought, understanding and tolerance for traditions and customs different from one’s own”. Even though it was the first time for these 15 students to travel to China, they were highly motivated and more than ready to take up this new challenge.
Apart from getting to know the city, the main goal in coming to Beijing was to gain working and cultural experience in an international setting. Participating companies and organizations were Sennheiser, Sovereign Group, EU SME Centre, Hutong School, Neso China, BFSU, 1421 Consulting, and BenCham Beijing. Each organization gave the students different tasks throughout the week, which were mainly to support a specific department in their daily responsibilities.
The tasks were very diverse depending on the company. A couple of examples: in Hutong School, the students were tasked to help in market research and put forward their ideas on how to attract more Chinese language learners. EU SME Centre trainees supported the IT department and have learnt in depth about Excel. Sennheiser had asked their trainees to help promote one of their high-end headphones, and the trainees joined a business event organized by the company. BenCham had sent their trainees on a cultural and historical tour throughout Beijing and let them present, at the end of the day, what they have learnt about the ancient and the modern sides of the country. Additionally, the students were also given an introductory language course at Hutong School.
To conclude their traineeship, the students were invited to the Dutch Embassy in China to present their experience and what they have learnt during their stay in Beijing. During the visit, Mr. Ed Kronenburg, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to China, also gave an introductory speech and there was a short Q&A session.
To put it in a nutshell, Beijing was different from what the students have expected; nonetheless, the thriving and lively city has positively surprised them in many ways. They have learnt a lot throughout the week about work in an international environment as well as about Chinese culture.
