Foreigner in the City by Tanya Ashreena

Monday, 14 February 2011

As a foreigner who came to the UK less than three months ago, when I got an internship on FT Money, I was a bit apprehensive. How useful would I be to a section which catered to a British audience?

But that was just one of the many preconceived notions I had proved wrong during my five-week internship. Sitting beside an American and an Australian, I realized as an international newspaper, FT embraces diversity. Being a foreigner is often more an asset, than an impediment, as we see things from a different perspective.

In any internship, interns complain about the lack of work they are given to do. However, for me that was never the case. Right from day one, I was encouraged to come up with story ideas and assigned stories to work on, which not only included writing news stories and features, but also blogs. I also attended several press conferences, which gave me the opportunity to interact with several people in the City.

The best part about interning in FT is the amount of interest the organisation takes in teaching and training you. Attending Graham Watt’s training workshops on News Writing and Writing News Features and Analysis helped me develop my writing skills. My editors would also give me feedback on stories I would file.

As far as social life goes, interns are invited to various office events and parties. We went to the FT Christmas party and had a blast!

I end my internship with 22 bylines, two of them being in the print edition. I could not ask more from any internship.