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Charlotte Lindsey Curtet is the director of communication and information management at the ICRC – the British Red Cross’ sister organisation in Geneva. She shares how her internship with the British Red Cross helped launch her successful career.
What did you do as a British Red Cross intern?
I was one of the British Red Cross’ first interns, back in 1989, and it was a springboard into a career I love. I worked in communications doing media monitoring, looking at branding, and anything else they needed.
My peers who interned in the private sector spent their time filing. I was lucky – the Red Cross loved having another person helping out. They gave me more responsibility as they saw how much I could handle.
That was the year of Hurricane Hugo and the Ceauşescu revolution, so there was a lot of work for us in communications.
What did you learn from your internship?
My internship showed me you should love what you do. That was a great lesson from my first professional experience.
It taught me that you are the only one who can inhibit what you do. Some things look mundane but if you do them well then people will recognise your abilities. I was the only intern – everyone else was a paid professional – so it taught me to fit in and adapt with professionals.
It also showed me that communication was what I liked doing and that I wanted to work for the Red Cross.
My peers in the private sector couldn’t wait for their internships to be over. For me it was the opposite – I really wanted to stay. I still know some of the people I met then. They’re still with the British Red Cross.
How did your internship help launch your career?
About a year after my internship, I applied for a job as a refugee officer at the British Red Cross. If I hadn’t done that internship I probably wouldn’t have dared apply because I didn’t have direct experience. I’d shown I was committed and enthusiastic, that I wanted to progress and learn. I think that got me the interview, and then I had the chance to sell my skills and abilities.
I got the job and set up reception centres for former detainees from Bosnia who were coming to the UK. When they arrived, they thought their families would soon join them but their families’ transit hadn’t been set up. I went to Bosnia for three months with the ICRC to find the family members in refugee camps and help them get to the UK. The ICRC then hired me and I continued to work in Bosnia for nearly two years.
Throughout the 90s, I went on missions to Rwanda, Kenya, Tajikistan and Croatia. I then got a position with the ICRC in Geneva to carry out a study on women and war, and eventually worked my way up to being appointed director of communication and information management in 2010.
What do you think interns can give to an organisation, and what should they expect in return?
Interns bring enthusiasm, an outside perspective and the latest knowledge from relevant fields.
In exchange, the organisation should give them opportunities to learn about themselves and how to do things better, as well as giving them the support and guidance they need.
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