The Working Day

Timetable

The working day at Universpain starts at 9 am and ends at 7pm, with a two-hour lunch break between 2 and 4pm.  These hours are typical of a Spanish working day.  The longer lunch break gives employees the time to eat at home, rather than in the office, and many employees also take a siesta. 

In the summer months, the lunch break is cut down to an hour, and the working day ends at 6pm.  This allows interns to make the most of the warm summer evenings.

Tasks

As well as running and promoting their own language school, Universpain also manages an online agency that aims to organise language courses abroad for students of various nationalities.  Interns are put in charge of different aspects of the business, according to their area of expertise.

>Business-to-Business Promotion

Any business wishing to bring their marketing strategies up to 21st century standards will recognise the importance of rigorous online promotion.  Here at Universpain, we do not underestimate the power of the internet when it comes to gaining as much exposure to our market as possible.  We have a number of websites that need maintaining daily.  It is important to us that the content of our websites is professional, informative and educational, and being an international business, we naturally strive to provide translations into all modern day key languages. 

Interns are required to update, compose and translate content, which is then uploaded onto our websites. 

>Content writing

Universpain aims to provide as much information as possible to students planning their time abroad.  This includes thorough descriptions of all our language course destinations, complete with activities and places to visit, details on how to find accommodation, work and funding for your stay, and instructions on how to get to and from your destination.  Interns are required to carefully research all aspects of planning a trip abroad, and give up to date and accurate information on necessities such as how to get health insurance or a work permit.

As well as being informative, content must be written in a professional manner, and interns are required to judge and adapt the register of their writing to their target audience.   Content writing is an excellent way for interns to put their creative and promotional writing skills into practice.  The content of a website also contributes to the image the business presents to it’s clients, and interns are therefore responsible for making sure their writing is of an acceptably high standard and register.

>Translation

This task is particularly useful to those interns who have done a language degree.  Universpain deals with clients from all over the world and therefore aims to translate all information into as many languages as possible.  Any graduate in languages will recognise the advantages that can be drawn from translating a text into another language – the content must convey the same information, whilst sounding coherent and natural in the target language as well.  Translation is a useful exercise in maintaining your level of language and thinking of multiple ways to communicate the same message.  It also requires attention to detail and a high standard of grammar.  

>Learn Languages

Learn Languages is an online agency that organises language courses abroad for students of all nationalities.  Interns are put in charge of opening emails from students looking for courses, and then providing them with all the information they need to finalise a booking.  This involves contacting our schools all over Europe to check for availability of courses and accommodation, to ask for prices and information, and eventually to book the course itself. 

This task gives the intern ample experience in public relations and communication.  Interns will learn to communicate with both clients and partner schools in a professional capacity.  This task also requires good teamwork and excellent communication between colleagues, which are both highly useful skills in all working environments.  Language students will be able to make use of all their languages, and will also learn how to communicate in a more formal register.

Skills required

• Good communication skills
• Ability to work in a team
• A desire to learn
• Good organisational skills

Skills acquired

• Time management skills
• Knowledge of internet marketing

 

Working at Universpain allows the intern to gain an insight into the working world and to develop the skills necessary to deal with the day-to-day tasks required to keep the business running. Interns are also encouraged to put forward their own ideas and suggestions to help develop and improve the business.