Victor Occelli, student International Business Management, is doing his internship at OO.com.au in Australia. “This is one of the largest online department stores in Australia and New Zealand. They sell nearly everything. As part of my internship, I work as a buying manager and I am part of the buying team. It is our job to make sure to always engage the competition. I make sure we set the right prices and check whether our major competitors are not making any strange leaps.”
When Victor heard that he could go on an internship, he knew immediately that he wanted to go abroad. Victor: “Travel is one of my big passions, besides history. Last year, during my gap year, I already moved to the US and India. For my internship, I wanted to go to either Rio de Janeiro or Australia. I posted my CV online and just a few days later, my current supervisor at OO.com in Australia responded. During a Skype call, we quickly hit it off and I was soon hired. That is when I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. Sydney, here I come!”
Marketing is essential
Victor has a wide range of tasks here. Victor: “I am always trying to determine which products will be selling the most. We decide, for example, what products to put on sale. This is posted in a newsletter, which I get to draw up from time to time. Many suppliers come to us to demonstrate their new or old products and to convince us to purchase these items. Ultimately, we decide what products to sell. During my bachelor programme, I took the Marketing course. The terminology I learned there comes in handy now.” Additionally, Victor also gets to test products himself now and again, which can result in some hilarious situations. “During my first two weeks here, my supervisor let me test out an expensive remote-controlled helicopter. Before I knew it, it had gone up in the air too high and I was no longer able to operate it. The wind grabbed it and it landed on a glass roof 300 metres away. The only way to get to it was with a crane. Fortunately, we were able to have a good laugh about the whole mess later!”
It's amazing in Sydney
Victor feels right at home in Sydney. Victor: “The lifestyle, the surfer mentality – I can really see myself living here. I live in a student house full of other Dutch people. We do everything together. We cook together when we are home, we travel together and we go out together. I live close to Bondi Beach, one of the most famous beaches in the world. Just amazing!” Victor is not too concerned about his future just yet. “What I do know is that I want to travel the world. I would also love to go on an internship in Rio de Janeiro during the football world championship. Perhaps I will go on to study history at a university after completing my International Business Management bachelor’s degree.”
Follow Victor on LinkedIn.