Way back at the beginning of the graduate programme journey, as well as interviews and assessments, our current crop of new starters were given an overview of the company benefits. One of them really stood out from the crowd: the opportunity to travel abroad.
24i has offices all over Europe in cities like Amsterdam, Brno, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Madrid. Just a month ago the company expanded further, adding another city in another country with the acquisition of The Filter, based in Bath, UK.
Amsterdam here we come!
The three 24i graduates based in Brno, Czech Republic all had the chance to spend six weeks at one of the other 24i offices as part of the programme. Unfortunately for QA Engineer Tomáš Ferenčík, Marketing Video Producer Patrik Muszka and Erik Šarlák who works as a Business Intelligence analyst in the Finance and Data team, restrictions imposed during the COVID pandemic got in the way. But, almost a year after joining the company, the wait is finally over and the trio have arrived in Amsterdam. Luckily, May is one of the best times to visit this fantastic Dutch city.
So why did they choose Amsterdam? It’s 24i’s headquarters and it’s a city that offers more than enough fun events to keep the team occupied for six weeks and more! In the same way that the company is spread all over Europe, so are the functional teams, so graduates are used to working with their colleagues online, but meeting face-to-face is much more interesting and there’s been plenty of opportunity for that during the trip to Amsterdam.
From downtown to down on the farm!
The trip has been full of interesting contrasts. “On one hand we can travel to the city centre only in 30 minutes by ferry,” explains Erik. “But on the other hand, we are actually staying on a small urban farm, where they keep chickens, ducks and pigs which is a taste of the countryside. Within days we had already given names to some of them!”
Although the placement is an excellent opportunity to meet more of the 24i team and to work with and learn from lots of colleagues from different countries, there is also plenty of time after work and at weekends to soak up the culture from another country. After checking a city guide, Tomáš came up with an excellent idea: purchasing Museum Cards. “We will have covered the cost of the card after visiting just five museums and there are over 400 in total covered by the card!” says Tomáš. We have all really enjoyed Rembrandt’s House, the Muiderslot Castle, Anna Frank’s House and Rijksmuseum.”
Another wise piece of advice for others following in the Brno team’s footsteps comes from Patrik: “The first thing to do after arriving in Amsterdam is to rent a bike,” he suggests. “With a bike you can get everywhere quite easily and you will explore the city in a proper Dutch way.”
Food, glorious food
No trip to a new city or country is complete without tasting the local cuisine. So the first week included trying typical food like Bitterballen – deep fried crispy meatballs served with mustard for dipping. If you have more of a sweet tooth like Erik then you can’t miss Stroopwafel, which are two thin waffles stuck together with a layer of sweet syrup. And of course a lot of sandwiches. For our graduates, a sandwich is more like a breakfast, but in the Netherlands they are also popular for lunch.
It’s not just the food that’s different, but also the way it can be purchased. “Amsterdam has many opportunities to buy both hot and cold food straight from a vending machine,” explains Patrik. “Just put some coins into the slot and Bon Appétit!”
Want to have a similarly international graduate experience?
If you are a fresh graduate or about to finish your university studies, why not consider the #FutureIsBright programme to enjoy the same sort of amazing experiences as Patrik, Erik and Tomáš?
More graduate positions are about to open and we are looking forward to getting a new round of young and motivated people.