Blog post by Behnam Nofar, intern at the Communications Department at RWI
I was introduced to an available position as a communications intern at RWI when I attended a UPF Networking Event some time ago. That was the start of a short process of getting the position.
In my program, Master’s in Welfare Policies and Management, I have the opportunity to conduct a 10-week internship and after months of applying for different internship positions around the world, I got an email from Gabriel Stein wanting to have an interview with me. It was my third interview during this hunt for an internship and it was an easygoing telephone interview. I study this master’s degree since it is a very unique degree that not many have. I believe it is the only welfare program in Sweden and my thesis supervisor recommended me to apply.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about RWI before I started applying for the position and after reading about it and getting a general feeling for the institute, I felt it was the right move to accept this position due to its global presence.
The first weeks consisted of getting acquainted with my new colleagues and their working areas, while booking meetings with blockchain experts and conducting interviews for our staff profile pieces. This was the calm before the storm.
Preparations for the Human Rights Film Festival were coming.
These preparations started during a hectic period since I had school work and had just moved to a new apartment so there was a lot of things to fix and not enough time in the day to do it. We had to promote the festival by contacting different student organizations, departments, NGOs and other relevant actors about collaborating with us and giving out free tickets. There were also tasks of putting up posters around Lund, conducting interviews and writing articles about panelist participants to generate interest for the Q&A. Mentioning all the tasks would not be good for my word limit. Let’s just say the end result and attending the festival was worth all the effort.
In the aftermath of the festival, it has become calmer and I have gotten more accustomed to the institute, the staff and the everyday work here, especially since I am working full-time now.
The questions that have always been interesting to me but have triggered me additionally here is the issue of migration which was brought up prominently during the film festival. I have through my work found more time to be up-to-date in regards to the news of the world and the human right issues that occur in Myanmar and other places that aren’t as much reported.
The interviews I have been conducting with RWI staff has shown me of how people from all walks of life with different academic backgrounds have ended up at this institute and that shows there are many ways of getting to organizations like this one. It makes me hopeful about the future since what I want to work with is migration and integration, which is not fully connected to my Bachelors and Master’s degree so I believe there are many ways one can take to achieve one’s personal goal.
I am looking forward to the coming months where I’m hoping to learn more from my manager Gabriel and my other colleagues.
I am sure this experience will assist me after my studies when I will pursue my career goal of establishing an international career where I can travel with my work.