When the technological firm Dell was looking for new employees for its Bratislava-located centre for sales and customer support 15 years ago, with a focus on the German-speaking market, it advertised on the city’s trams. There was limited knowledge about the company. Local knowledge of the centre has since expanded while it has grown into a global business centre that uses much more sophisticated ways for finding new talents.
Stephen Caulfield
“The firm quickly realised that Slovaks have not only great language skills, but are also very detail- and task-oriented with a strong analytical mindset,” Stephen Caulfield, Site Lead of Dell Global Business Centre, recalled the steep growth of the centre in Bratislava.
Today the centre’s competencies include finance, global business operations, IT, data science, technical support, procurement, HR and more. It employs more than 2,600 employees of 48 nationalities; the company perceives its employees’ different backgrounds as a great advantage.
“The different cultural points of view can give much bet-ter solutions to problems we are trying to fix,” said Caulfield, adding that technology, due to an exponential growth of data, has become an inseparable part of each sector, whether it be in finance, health care, agriculture or petrochemicals.
The centre is continuing to look for new talents in Bratislava, offering them several opportunities for further development. “Research done in our industry shows that a 21-22-year-old entering the work force now will have to re-skill them-selves seven times before they retire,” said Caulfield. “With the scale of business we have here in Bratislava, we offer those open to new opportunities a multifaceted career in a multinational environment.”
Why an internship is a good career start
Are you a student and want to find a job in a large and constantly growing international company? Then read further to find out how to make your dream come true and why an internship is a good career start.
Many students face the problem of searching for a job. In fact, not many of us consider internships a good option due to low salary expectations and the lack of prestige. But if you want to get a job in a big international company and have a success-ful start to your career, an internship is a unique opportunity. I was working as an intern for constantly growing IT company – Dell, and would like to share my takeaways.
First of all let me dispel a couple of myths about internships:
An internship is low-paid. In fact, an internship is not always low-paid. There are a lot of companies which provide competitive salaries and Dell is one of them.
An internship is not a job. It is a job since an intern is a full-fledged employee, the same as any other employee within a company. You are working in a team and involved in teamwork. Moreover, you are assigned a mentor or advisor who is providing you with interesting and complex tasks while helping you solve and learn from them.
An internship is the exploitation of a cheap student labor force. Throw this thought away from your mind, because it is false. Of course, there are some financial benefits for the company to hire a student rather than a professional, but the company also spends money and time for your learning and adaptation into working processes and corporate culture.
For students, an internship is a great chance to start their career in an international company and to gain a valuable experience. It provides you with opportunities a regular part-time position does not. Internships, particulary, internship programs involve not only regular tasks and responsibilities, but also development sessions, training, case studies etc. You will learn much more than on any other part-time job. This will make you a competitive candidate on the labor market. Moreover, after an internship you can always stay working in the company as a regular full-time employee or join the graduate program.
An internship helps you to determine your future and find your place in life. Therefore, I highly encourage each of you to be confident in yourself and take this chance once it appears. Never miss the opportunity to develop yourself and build your future, because it may never come again!
Maryna Trubaichuk, Finance Controller at Dell
