The ninth edition of the program happened with the support of A1

Nearly 100 interns from 15 leading Bulgarian and international companies joined the ninth edition of Council of Women in Bulgaria’s national Internship Initiative, “Staying in Bulgaria,” held with the support of A1. On September 1, they officially completed the program and received certificates for the knowledge they aqcuired from Tsvetanka Mincheva, Chair of the Board of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and CEO of Unicredit Bulbank, as well as from Miglena Uzunova-Tsekova, Senior Director, Human Resources, A1 Bulgaria and a CWBB member.

The initiative aims to support the personal development of young people and encourage trainees to further develop the knowledge and skills gained during their education.

“I believe the success of the internship initiative is driven by us being together and sharing. We willingly give you everything we have as expertise and skills, but you give us the energy, drive and ambition that are an integral part of your youth and enthusiasm now that you are at the beginning of your careers. Along with the other companies from the Council, we gave you the opportunity to experience the benefits of seven trainings on current topics, including presentation skills, business communication, personal finance management, project management, building a personal brand, etc. But you gave us the confidence that you have the strength to continue the battle for the economic development of our country to the place it deserves,” said Tsvetanka Mincheva, addressing the trainees.

Miglena Uzunova-Tsekova also congratulated the graduates of the Internship Initiative and commented that A1 supports the program because it is part of its strategy to support enthusiastic young people’s  career start, tomorrow’s professionals. “Sharing experience and knowledge among established experts and transferring practical guidance is extremely important for young people to build on the knowledge gained during their university education,” she commented.

This is the fifth year the program has taken place in partnership with A1. Interns from leading companies that are CWBB members such as A1, UniCredit Bulbank, Dundee Precious Metals, HPE, Lidl Bulgaria, Prestige 96 AD, Aurubis and others joined the initiative. The participants are students from various prestigious Bulgarian and foreign higher-education institutions and for a month as part of the National Internship Initiative they had the opportunity to go through seven specialized professional trainings for social skills. They will contribute to the development of presentation skills and knowledge in the field of effective business communication, interview preparation, and project management. Important for the future professional development of the participants is also the acquired knowledge about the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, the Management of Personal Finances business simulation, as well as the valuable guidelines for building a personal brand on social networks.

As part of the rich program of the National Internship Initiative, the young people had the opportunity to visit the offices of six of the CWBB member companies, including A1, Nestle, Siemens, Lidl, Electrohold, SumUp. During these visits, they spoke with established professionals who showed them the key projects they were working on. At the end of the program, 25 of the participants took part in a volunteer activity specially organized for them to improve the conditions in a complex for children with disabilities in Sofia.