An internship in a fast-growing young company in the desired field is a success in itself. The opportunity to find myself in the first real working environment brings with it both challenges and fears. However, my worries quickly disappeared when I met my mentor Ivona Narančić, who then became the face of inspiration and encouragement.

Here are a few key ways her mentorship has profoundly impacted my internship experience:

Selfless sharing of knowledge

Mentors generally have rich experience and expertise in their fields. Problems arise if they keep knowledge to themselves or are incapable of sharing it. In my case, Ivona readily and selflessly shared her knowledge and helped me navigate projects, providing clear instructions, sharing best practices and offering valuable insights. This not only improved the quality of my work, but also taught me basic skills that cannot be learned from textbooks.

Support and encouragement

One of the most important aspects of the mentor's role is support and faith in the intern's abilities. At tershouse, whenever I faced some challenges or obstacles, the mentor was there to encourage me and remind me of my potential. Support is the basis for a safe and motivating environment where I always felt ready to take risks, ask questions and learn from my mistakes.

We are not all the same - personalized development

A mentor can help us only if he/she recognizes individual strengths and weaknesses. My mentor tailored all the guidelines to fit my specific needs. The point is to identify areas of interest and provide opportunities to explore them further. In this way, my personal growth was not only encouraged at tershouse, but I also got the opportunity to discover new passions and potentials in myself.

Networking

Networking in itself is a pillar of the business world, but it is not always easy to take the first steps in getting to know each other. As a mentor, Ivona played a key role in connecting me with various professionals within the coworking space and beyond. Through these acquaintances, I have gained valuable insights into different roles, industry trends and potential career paths, broadening my horizons.

Regular communication

There is no success without regular communication! The best thing a mentor can do for you is to hold regular meetings where he gives his/her feedback, suggestions for further steps and pointing out domains that can be improved.

Team

An indispensable element the team - which, in addition to mentors, has a great influence on the experience of the work space, but also on the entire internship. Team members, although they do not have direct responsibility similar to that of a mentor, can contribute to the work and progress of the internship.

Growth is easier if you have someone by your side who believes in your abilities, who provides guidance tailored to your goals and interests. On my journey, Ivona became a reliable ally, someone who encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, take risks and learn from success and failure. Great mentoring combined with my hard work and openness to learning led me to become part of the tershouse team after the internship; and in the role of Community manager!

If you haven't had the opportunity for your internship yet, maybe it's time to stop by tershouse and ask in our community about different types of mentoring and internship programs in one of the many companies that are part of our community. We all started somewhere, let tershouse be the starting point of your career!

Author of the article: Nevena Lučić, Community manager at tershouse