Our coworker and communicator Matilda Hofvander met Marco Zanrosso from Italy to hear all about his experience of having completed an internship in Sweden. After his internship at IDEON in Lund, he got an employment as a Software developer at the company Storvix. This is that they talked about.
What motivates a student from Italy to travel to another land to have an internship?
I chose to practice abroad because I thought it was more interesting than Italy. I wanted the opportunity to meet other people and their visions. I'm proud to be here today and to have done this project. All people should have the opportunity to win this project, but I know that only a few people get this opportunity.
Tell me about yourself; what have you studied and what were your ambitions before coming to Sweden?
I studied computer science for three years in the high school and my ambition before coming to Sweden was to learn from other programmers and coders, we have to admit that Italians are not the best in programming field; that's why I wanted to go abroad and meet the best programmers and learn from them.
What is your professional role today and what do you mainly work with?
My generic professional role today is Software developer; but I do a lot of different tasks mostly regarding the code but also with documentation, analysis, networking or some more low level stuff.
Did you find it difficult to adapt in Sweden, when it comes to the Swedish language and the Swedish culture, for example?
Yes, it is very hard because Swedish is completely different from all the languages that I know (English and Italian), so when I’m around I don’t understand anything but with modern technologies like translators I’m able to overcome all the problems; we also have to say that almost all Swedish people that I met they knew English so it’s simpler for a foreigner to relate.
Sweden has a flatter organization compared to other EU countries, was that something you noticed, compared to Italy?
Not immediately but when I moved here it was very clear.
Do you recommend the experience to other students?
Yes, absolutely! But it is always difficult to pass and win the competition, plus schools have limited budgets and places, so unfortunately not everyone can go. I was lucky because I attended a technical school which, unlike the linguistic ones, generally has far fewer people interested in these types of competitions.
Do you feel you were prepared enough before coming to Sweden? Anything you would change?
You can never be 100% prepared for this kind of experience at this age, you try to learn what they teach you in school but the real challenge is to make do once you are here.
You obviously had a very good experience in your internship, but now tell me, anything you didn’t enjoy, that didn’t meet your expectations?
The only thing I didn't like was the group I was in but the experience itself was perfect.
Any last words for students thinking about this programme?
Just go.