Internships: a chance to grow as a professional and a person

In this post, I want to share one of the important changes we made this year (2014) at Venera Cosmetics. It reflects my personal view on how young professionals develop in Bulgaria and how badly they need opportunities to grow. At the same time, internship programs are a great way to bring fresh ideas into a company and find talented new people.

Everyone knows that young professionals in Bulgaria don’t have enough good opportunities, yet many Bulgarian businesses make no effort to give them a chance to develop. Only one in five Bulgarian employers has an internship program, meaning a well-planned effort to invest in recruiting and developing new talent. That makes things hard for Bulgarian students, and most of them end up spending their summers resting and having fun, putting off the first steps of their careers. Sooner or later, they find themselves without enough work experience and unprepared for the job market.

Still, there are young people who are eager to gain experience they can use later in their careers, and they try to make the most of the summer opportunities, which are growing, if slowly. As the manager of Venera Cosmetics, one of the oldest perfumeries in Bulgaria, I created an internship program at the company and was able to give several ambitious students from Plovdiv a chance to grow. My team and I gave them the opportunity to practice and build on their knowledge and skills in marketing, IT and graphic design.

At the start of the summer, the company welcomed its first interns: Vasil Slavchev, Dimitrina Toleva and Ivan Abadzhiev, students at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Plovdiv University. The young programmers got the chance to help build Venera Cosmetics’ future innovative solutions, working side by side with economists and graphic designers. Here’s what they had to say:

“This internship is helping me grow as a person, and it has given me the chance to work with lots of new technologies.”

Ivan Abadzhiev, Software Technologies and Design student

“The people I work with and the environment I’m in are really pleasant. And I truly enjoy my work.”

Vasil Slavchev, Computer Science student

“My internship at Venera Cosmetics motivates and inspires me. I’ve met true professionals here, and I’m sure the experience I’ve gained will help me succeed as an IT specialist.”

Dimitrina Toleva, Business Information Technologies student

Iva Kmetska, our only graphic design intern, shared her impressions of the positive attitude of both the company’s employees and the interns themselves.

“When I started my internship at Venera Cosmetics, I felt a little unsure of myself, but thanks to how professionally everyone treated me, I learned a lot of new and useful things. The team is young, creative and hardworking, and I’m happy to be part of it.”

Iva Kmetska

Our marketing department got a double dose of fresh, youthful enthusiasm. Bozhidar Yankov and Daniela Stamenova took responsibility for the company’s online presence. Every day, they created content for the blog and social media and helped develop our online store (fragrances.bg).

“I see more and more clearly how central marketing is to a business, and how every activity, however small, can bring our department valuable information.”

Bozhidar Yankov, Marketing student

“I think it’s extremely important for students today to find not just the right internship program, but also a good, professional team. Venera Cosmetics offers this amazing opportunity and supports our future growth. I’m really happy to be part of this team and to have the chance to meet proven professionals and learn from their experience.”

Daniela Stamenova, Macroeconomics student

The students took ownership of their work at the company, and they always had the support of the rest of the team. Lazar Bosakov, Venera Cosmetics’ energetic and talented graphic designer, always made time to help and advise the interns.

“It’s a real pleasure to share your experience with smart young people. We made a good team, and I believe the interns were able to sharpen their skills and pick up new ones. I learned new things along the way too. After all, we never stop learning.”

Lazar Bosakov, graphic designer and web developer

Summer internships are an ideal way to gain work experience and build professional connections. They also give every student a chance to test their skills, their motivation and how much they enjoy working in their chosen field. Venera Cosmetics fully understands the need to create new opportunities for young Bulgarian professionals, and that’s exactly why it launched its own internship program.

This was the first time we organized an internship program in our e-commerce and marketing department, where students got to see how a modern Bulgarian company works in practice. It’s extremely important for young people to gain work experience before they graduate, because the theory taught at universities isn’t enough to fully develop their skills. My team and I are very happy with the students’ enthusiasm and creativity.

I, along with everyone at the company, believe that young people should take their future into their own hands and grow as individuals and professionals. But to do that, they need opportunities. I also see investing in people and their development as an important part of our company policy. Through this internship program, I hope to give ambitious Bulgarian students a chance to show what they can do and add to their professional experience. We also offered some of this summer’s interns the chance to keep working with us and contributing to the company’s growth after their internship ended.

Read more about the Venera Cosmetics internship program (in Bulgarian) at

http://veneracosmetics.com/novini/stajat-vazmozhnost-za-razvitie-kato-profesionalist-i-lichnost/