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Internship Spotlight

Patricia Molinos Ruperez

Intern at the OECD

Internships are learning experiences. In their internships, AUP students apply the knowledge they’ve acquired in the classroom and hone skills that will help them succeed in their future careers. Sometimes students learn more about themselves than they expect. Internships allow them to test-drive possible careers while the stakes are still relatively low.

In this issue of AUP Intern Profiles Patricia Molinos Ruperez tells us all about her internship with the OECD.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

I was born in the beautiful, dynamic and multicultural Mediterranean city of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, Spain. As an intrepid and extremely curious learner since a very early age, I have always loved traveling away from the comfort of home and exploring new places where my main priority is to live as and interact with locals. These trips, where I often combine responsible tourism with volunteer work, have brought me to a wide range of countries from Palestine to the Dominican Republic, including Morocco, and India. My passion for world politics, international development and security, human rights and gender equality as well as the other SDGs, also took me to Turkey (Izmir), France (Paris) and Lebanon (Beirut), where I lived for more extended periods of time.

Which company/organization are you currently interning with?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operations and Development (OECD)

 

Where is your internship taking place?

Paris, France.

 

When is your internship taking place?

October 2017 - April 2018

 

What is your job title?

Policy Analysis Trainee

 

What types of responsibilities and/or tasks do you have in your internship? What's a typical day for you?

As a Policy Analysis Trainee supporting the OECD-DAC Network on Gender Equality, I:

  • Conducted research on Women’s Unpaid Care and Domestic work, and on Gender Equality in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings (FCAS), supporting data production for SDGs
  • Drafted concept notes, report and event summaries, and talking points
  • Liaised with UN bodies, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations and Government officials from different ministries
  • Co-organized the 1st Policy Dialogue on Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE), with +180 participants; the Global Forum on Development, with +400 attendees; and the GENDERNET annual meeting with the Network´s country member delegates
  • Outreach: created social media content and communications material around main events and OECD publications
  • Translated documents and publications Spanish-English-French: The Handbook on the OECD-DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker, room documents for the Policy Dialogue, and the Gender Equality in FCAS Report summary.

 

What language(s) are you speaking/using in your internship?

The two working languages of the OECD are French and English. However, I also used my native Spanish and practiced my high-intermediate Arabic when interacting with development partners from the Latin American & Caribbean and MENA regions, respectively.

 

Tell us about your future goals/aspirations. Is this internship relevant? Do you think it will help you along the way?

The internship at the OECD-DAC GENDERNET was of more relevance and help than I could have expected when I started: towards the end I was offered a Junior Position that I accepted! As a Consultant on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, my work is to support the work streams of the Secretariat, which allows me to keep building the first steps of a promising career in the International Affairs, Development and Gender "industry".

 

Anything else to share?

My parents often remind me that at the time they were young(er than now), job offers would fall from the sky even before university finished. Today, however, everybody has high education degrees, is very prepared and has a CV that is worth a contract. Competition with candidates that we perceive as readier and more qualified than us will always be there. What one needs to do is using that as a motivation to work harder rather than letting it push us back. Internships are the best way I can think of to differentiate ourselves from others and add skills and experience to our valuable profiles, so I encourage all students to find one and use their time - and AUP rich resources - wisely!