BESTSELLER’s International Business Trainee programme is the perfect way to grow professionally and personally

You might ask now – what is the International Business Programme? It is our two-year programme offering you the possibility of working in an international environment with lots of travel activity – all within your most beloved field! You can choose between the specialist fields of Design, Sourcing, Retail Management, IT Technology and Development, Finance, E-commerce and Sales Management. With enriching travels, entertaining events, educative school periods and exciting meetings with people from different cultural backgrounds, this is the perfect mix for the one who wants to grow professionally and personally!

What better way to get to know more about the IBT programme than by asking the IBTs themselves? Meet NaKena Cromartie, Buyer at SELECTED FEMME and Anna Gyetvai, Designer at ONLY PLAY and read about their take on the personal and professional developments involved with being an International Business Trainee at BESTSELLER.

Professional developments
One of the professional developments you gain from the IBT Programme is in-depth knowledge. Anna explains:

                “Most recently, I spent three months in China working with our biggest suppliers to get a deeper insight into production and the culture. Next, I would love to meet customers to understand better what they need. These experiences give me a broad perspective on the business and make me a better designer.”  

NaKena also mentions the increased in-depth knowledge she has acquired about the fashion industry, accompanied by global and cultural experiences. Along with the increased in-depth knowledge comes what NaKena calls “endless learning”. She gives an example of this:

                “For me, it is the chance to learn the “daily-doings” of a Fashion Buyer as a trainee, then transfer these learnings to my stationing in Turkey”.

When transferring your prior learnings to new environments, you add layers to your knowledge. It’s the perfect recipe for self-development!

For Anna, self-development is key to her experience as an IBT:

                “It is really important for me to have continuous opportunities for self-development. When applying for the programme, I wanted to know that I will be challenged over and over again to grow. I guess I have a tendency to think: what’s next?”

Personal developments
On the note of self-development, it is adjacent to elaborate on the personal outcomes of being an IBT.
NaKena focuses on the interplay between a new environment and personal development:

                “The first couple of months were really exciting yet demanding for me! The excitement of being flooded in ‘newness’ brought about some pressure for me to ‘find my way’ in Denmark.”

With ‘newness’, the newfound friend group is mentioned as an important aspect. Anna also mentions:

                “It is so funny to remember how I started bonding with some people who since then became my close friends and we went through so many things together.”

Developing close friends was something that the Danish work-life balance allowed Anna to do. She has time for social experiences as Friday bars and summer festivals - just to mention a few.
Anna also says that the IBT programme helps her “face some of my insecurities in my private life”, making her a more confident person in the end. It seems all our IBTs agree with Anna saying:

                “I am not only growing as a professional but also evolving as a human being.”

Read more about BESTSELLER’s International Business Trainee Programme here: http://about.bestseller.com/jobs/international-business-trainee/the-ibt-programme and get to know our IBTs through their personal blogs: http://bestseller-ibt.com/