I am a 23 year old Student, and during my 5 month long internship with Clapham Relocation Services in Germany, Ileana Clapham had the idea to try to set up a chance for me to do a brief internship with another European relocation company. After having contacted a few people, Margaret Moes agreed to let me do a 2 week internship with LSS Relocation in London. I have to admit that I was a little anxious in the beginning, as it is always a big step to face something unknown in a foreign country. But when I actually arrived at Heathrow, Margaret made it very easy for me, we got along great right from the start.
Margaret had drawn up a great itinerary for me with various activities covering the main aspects of the relocation process, which allowed me to get insight into all these areas.
Among the items on my schedule were a home finding tour with a consultant in London, a day with the staff of the EURA headquarters, and I accompanied a local real estate agent for a day. In addition `I went on a home finding tour with Margaret in the Windsor area, and I had the chance to look over an inventory agent’s shoulder. I spent the rest of the time in the office, getting to know the daily office routines.
What made it so interesting and exciting was that all of the people I met during these days really took the time for me and did a great job to explain their work to me in detail and to answer my questions.
This was really a wonderful experience, due to the fact that I had the opportunity to get an insight behind the curtain of certain areas, which would not have been possible without this project.
One thing that I would change, if I could do this again is the fact that I did not bring a car to Great Britain, and therefore I was very dependent on the help of others. However, Margaret and her staff did a great job in managing my logistics.
This wonderful experience showed me that there are many differences between Great Britain and Germany, for example there is the profession of an inventory agent in Great Britain which does not as such exist in Germany. Having carpeting in the bathroom is just another little example for the differences which I find very charming. But I realized that the basic aspects of the relocation process are quite similar. The time-consuming task of calling numerous letting agents in order to set up a tour is for example very much the same.
As a conclusion, I want to say that I really enjoyed this project and I highly recommend it to everyone who has the opportunity to participate in something alike. I also want to say thank you to everybody who has dedicated their time and energy to make this venture possible.