Praktika Ventspilio naftos terminale

Ina Romanova

I am very happy to have had the opportunity to work as an Erasmus graduate intern in ‘Ventspils nafta terminals’ for the past 5 months.

I came here with a hope to look at examples of good organizational work and to feel the spirit of working at an organization. I gained a lot here: I found great mentors, good friends, deep knowledge and practical examples which helped me to gain invaluable experience. The work was interesting, both the strategic and administrative human resource management, and I also enjoyed getting to know the work environment and the employees of the company. It is important to mention that I had to speak mostly in Russian in professional environment. It was challenging but interesting and it gave me Russian language using skills.

I was inspired by the attitude of the organization towards the interns: the interns have their own office, e-mail, they are introduced to employees and seen as colleagues. The staff are willing to help and share their knowledge. Moreover, I was surprised by really high security level at the territory: going to work through gates, a lot of cameras at the territory, meetings about safety, special clothes for special zones. There are other great things at the organization: a cafe for employees, a bus adapted to work schedules, a relaxation room.

As well as doing meaningful work, there was also time for leisure. Ventspils is a charming place with beautiful nature (amazing sea, the sunsets and the forests), interesting cultural life and open-hearted and active people.