The Mopinion internship program offers students the opportunity to be responsible for supporting a key area of our Sales, Marketing, Customer Success and Product departments. Our interns gain valuable experience working in a fast-paced, motivated team that goes above and beyond to deliver a stand-out product for a rapidly evolving digital industry. So what’s it like interning at Mopinion?
We’ve sat down with several of our interns, both past and present to show you what they’ve gotten out of their time here at Mopinion and how this has helped them grow and reach their career goals.
Let’s see what they had to say…
TJEERD TRAATS
Academic Background
Tjeerd studied Multimedia Design at the Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam. He later realised that illustration and design were more of a hobby and decided to switch to International Business and Management Studies, attending Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences – the Rotterdam Business School.
In his final year of school, he crossed paths with one of the Mopinion founders, Udesh Jadnanansing at a guest lecture and started an internship to complete his thesis at Mopinion shortly after.
About Tjeerd’s Internship
Department: Marketing & Sales
Period: 2015/2016 (6 months)
Internship Type: Thesis (‘A Marketing Communication Strategy and How to Manage and Motivate the Mopinion Salesforce while Entering the UK Market’)
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Tjeerd: I’d definitely say the support and freedom to learn and try new things. With some effort, you get the chance to apply what you’ve learned as well as deploy that knowledge in the business.
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Tjeerd: Of course you have to make decisions together and get approval from others, but I learned that it’s really good to do what you believe in and work hard for it. And it’s important to always do your best to listen and accept other points of view and opinions. This requires good communication with others at all times.
What is your current position?
Tjeerd: My internship turned into a permanent position as a Mopinion employee. Now I’m a full-time member of the team and I receive more and more responsibilities to manage digital marketing campaigns and sales strategies. On the side, I also give guest lectures at the Rotterdam Business School.
NIELS VEENSTRA
Academic Background
Niels attended the Haagse Hogeschool (HHS) where he got his bachelor’s degree in Human Technology. This is a project-based education about user experience research and design for physical and digital products (the study has now adapted to the name, ‘User Experience Design’).
About Niels’ Internship
Department: Development
Period: January 2017 – June 2017 (6 months)
Internship Type: Graduation internship, in the role of UX Designer
What was your favorite part about interning at Mopinion?
Niels: Definitely having the freedom to do my own research project for Mopinion. The manager prompted a known issue for the Mopinion platform which was 100% relevant for my study and gave a perfect start to do user experience research and design. I tackled the user onboarding process, which assists new users and get users started after signing into Mopinion for the first time.
Additionally, the Mopinion team is very open and invested. Everybody showed interest in my work and was able to assist with their expert knowledge about the users or the platform.
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Niels: User research is always worth the time. It is an amazing investment to find insights for improvement.
What is your current position?
Niels: User experience designer, consultant at ALTEN, a consulting and engineering organisation working in various (niche) markets for the high tech sector and ICT.
STEF VAN DER LINDEN
Academic Background
Stef studied Commercial Economics (Marketing and Sales) at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. During this training, he was involved in recent developments in the field of marketing and sales.
About Stef’s Internship
Department: Marketing & Sales
Period: February 2016 to July 2016 (6 months)
Internship Type: Junior Marketing and Sales executive
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Stef: The coolest thing about Mopinion was the dynamics within the company. Mopinion is a company that takes everyone very seriously and likes to get the most out of everyone. They challenge you to perform every day and because they do this in a very nice and social environment, it also makes it fun!
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Stef: The team has a very original and progressive way of Marketing. I immediately took over these methods and I still carry them with me. The way ‘out of the box’ thinking is a very catchy and refreshing way of thinking. You certainly don’t learn this way of thinking in a book at school!
What is your current position?
Stef: My current position is Commercial Operations at Hortimat, the world market leader in renewed horticultural machines. Here I write procedures and take care of various marketing and sales activities. I also take care of the further development of our internal ERP-system and websites.
PERCY VAN DEN BOOGAARD
Academic Background
Percy has been following a course for the last two years called ‘Trade Management focused on Asia’, which focuses on the business, trade in, from and to Asia. In addition to the business and trade aspects, he also studies the (business) culture from various Asian countries. He follows this course (which is now referred to as International Business for Asia) at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.
About Percy’s Internship
Department: Marketing
Period: April 2019 to June 2019 (3 months)
Internship Type: Gain Marketing Experience/Company research
What is your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Percy: My favourite part would definitely be the experience in marketing that I’m gaining. Before my time at Mopinion, I didn’t have any practical insights into the marketing tasks of a larger company. It’s really informative to be able to see how the Marketing is done here at Mopinion, and how this organisation markets itself compared to others in their sector.
What kinds of lessons have you taken away from your internship at Mopinion?
Percy: The main lesson I’ve taken away at Mopinion so far is that although their working culture is very open and casual, they still manage to maintain their professional working ethic. It’s also great to see how much trust employees place in each other and are all able to get along nicely because of it.
SEMIH TEDIK
Academic Background
Semih studied Commercial Economics at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and graduated with his Bachelor’s degree.
About Semih’s Internship
Department: Marketing & Sales
Period: August 2016 – December 2016 (5 months)
Internship Type: Marketing Internship (Social media marketing & lead generation), Market Research
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Semih: I enjoyed doing my internship here, because everybody was very friendly, funny, and helpful. Sometimes I would even motivate my colleagues by sending inspiring messages referencing Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. They loved it!
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Semih: In the beginning, I didn’t want to share my ideas because I was shy and afraid to make mistakes. At Mopinion, they encouraged me to take initiative and share my suggestions even if I was wrong. It was a good lesson that taught me not to be afraid of making mistakes.
I also wanted to learn how to start your own company. The co-founders have advised me which books I should read. They also told their experiences about how they first started with Mopinion. I understood what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Thanks to them, I have read more books, started programming, and become a better person.
What is your current position?
Semih: In September I will be joining the pre-Master programme at Tilburg University. Additionally, my friend and I are building a price comparison extension for finding the cheapest video games, which is our passion. Hopefully, we will launch the extension on Chrome Shop in the summer.
YANNICK POST
Academic Background
Yannick studied at Grafisch Lyceum as a Web Developer/Graphic Designer. A fellow student from his school recommended the internship at Mopinion and a short time after, he found himself in the midst of the interview process. Not particularly looking to work for a standard web agency, Yannick was happy to discover that Mopinion offered a nice opportunity to work for a small software startup and happily took on the internship!
About Yannick’s Internship
Department: Development
Period: 2016 – 2017 (8 months)
Internship Type: Front-End Developer, with some graphic work involved.
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Yannick: For starters, as an intern you are really seen as part of the team. They don’t have the approach of “you are only good for getting coffee, while I do the real work”. You are immediately involved and there is room for your own input and ideas. Not to mention, when you run into trouble, there is always someone in the team who is willing to help you out.
Another nice aspect of working at Mopinion is that you’re indirectly working for some big name customers, so it’s pretty cool to see your work come to life on the websites of – for example – Volkswagen or TomTom.
Lastly, the work you do is very versatile. For example, yesterday you might have been writing code for the software, today you are designing a big promotion banner and tomorrow you may be setting up a newsletter email template that will be sent to thousands of people.
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Yannick: The biggest thing I learned would be working as a team and the importance of using project management tools like scrum. These are skills I still use a lot during my current education. Working under time pressure was also something I had to get used to. In these situations it’s important not to stress too much, and just say focused.
What is your current position?
Yannick: Currently I’m in my second year of Creative Media and Game Technologies at Hogeschool Rotterdam. This study mainly focuses on finding solutions for problems using technology and confirming its viability from a business standpoint. The internship at Mopinion gave me a really good starting point for this follow-up study.
*Yannick will be joining Mopinion again as a part time employee this fall (in addition to school).
BILL LAPIAN
Academic Background
Bill studies Trade Management (focus on Asia) at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. As the name suggests, the course covers trade mainly focused on Asia, teaching a lot about marketing, finance, logistics, cross cultural management and of course, the relations between The Netherlands and Asia.
In his second year of school, Bill started as an intern at Mopinion where he was to perform field research – this being one of the most important practical components of his study.
About Bill’s Internship
Department: Marketing
Period: April 2018 to July 2018 (4 months)
Internship Type: Field Research Internship
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Bill: I particularly liked the openness of my colleagues. They were all great to work with. Both managers and employees took the time to talk to me about the bottlenecks I was facing so that was really great.
I also learned a lot by observing the kinds of services and strategies the company applied. This was very fascinating. And of course, I took a lot of nice memories with me. Lots of laughs and good times with the team.
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Bill: During my internship I learned to work with a critical attitude, and that working meticulously can deliver a higher level of quality.
I have also learned to work in a problem-solving way and grown to work more schematically and systematically. This prevents me from missing deadlines. And perhaps the most important thing I have learned is to look calmly at my own future and not make hasty decisions.
What is your current position?
Bill: At the moment I am doing a minor in Jakarta, Indonesia for my third year, and after the summer break I will start my final year of the course and do a final internship here in Jakarta. Hopefully as just as educational and enjoyable as it was at Mopinion.
YOERI KULLBERG
Academic Background
Yoeri studies Marketing Management at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. He recently finished his internship at Mopinion.
About Yoeri’s Internship
Department: Marketing
Period: September 2021 – January 2022 (5 months)
Internship Type: Marketing Internship (Including Social Media, Market Research and Project Management)
What was your favourite part about interning at Mopinion?
Yoeri: The freedom I got in planning my day and tasks. In the morning, I did the Inbound Qualifications. And after that the planning of the day was totally up to myself. Of course, there were meetings scheduled at certain times. But for the most part, I could decide when to do which tasks.
What kinds of lessons did you take away from your internship at Mopinion?
Yoeri: I learned to take initiatives to try new things, be open and to involve everybody in my research. I did this through good communication and taking responsibilities. The main point I learned is that I don’t need to be afraid to make mistakes as long as I can substantiate my choices.
What is your current position?
Yoeri: I’m in the third year of my Bachelor’s Degree, so I have another year to go after this one. I now know that I am really interested in Digital Marketing and that I like working in a small company. There are many possibilities with Marketing, so I am curious to see where I will end up!
Curious about our current internship opportunities?
Send us your resume and cover letter at info@mopinion.com!
