What’s it like to be an intern at Leonid? We asked our first ever intern, Yves, to share his thoughts. Yves is bilingual (French/English) and has been working remotely from Barcelona since he joined us earlier this year.
How did you feel when you first joined Leonid?
From day one, I was made to feel really welcome. Although I am based in Barcelona, my French colleagues all flew over to meet me and I quickly felt like part of the team. My internship was going to be fully remote so it was invaluable to have this time with the team before I launched into working from home.
One of the first things which really struck me from the start was the Leonid values, which the company really does live by. “Do the right thing, not the easy thing” is something which particularly resonates with me.
What kind of work did you get involved with?
Initially, I was learning all about the global innovation incentives market and how the business operates and interacts with its clients. I also quickly learned about all the vital tech for sourcing candidates.
My first months were filled with a lot of sourcing on LinkedIn Recruiter, which allowed me to familiarise myself with the software and understand how to make the most of it. I also scoped out the potential of working in different geographical markets.
I also very quickly started to make “Leonid Lives”: short video interviews with candidates, for our clients to view. As my internship progressed, I had increasing contact with candidates and more responsibilities, which allowed me to see the impact of my effort across the business. I was also proud to be entrusted with sourcing for Leonid’s largest ever mandate.
Day to day, I helped my colleagues on the French market with the sourcing of most of their contracts, I searched for job offers within the innovation incentives and corporate governance sectors to enable pro-active approaches.
How did you feel about working remotely?
I had initially been concerned about feeling quite isolated but I quickly realised that Léa, my internship supervisor, and Julie, her colleague in France, were very present and ready to offer help and guidance. I felt completely supported and I knew I could contact them for any questions I had.
What was your favourite moment?
It has to be the incredible opportunity to meet all of the Leonid team at a company off-site in Porto. This 3-day event allowed me to get to know each individual, to understand the company’s mission and its future vision. And we had a lot of fun, too!
