My experience as an intern at KeyNest - by Lisa, London intern in autumn/winter 2022:

By Lisa Eckstein, KeyNest London intern in autumn/winter 2022:

Once upon a time, in a small town in the middle of Austria’s countryside, I found an online advertisement for an internship, that I never thought would change my life. It was KeyNest’s internship offer for the position of a business development intern in London, which turned my life upside down and made me move to London for some time.

Back to the story: scrolling through hundreds of online job advertisements to find the perfect matching internship for my studies was a long and boring process, until I finally and unexpectedly bumped into the internship offer that I was hoping for. KeyNest’s internship description caught my attention and raised my interest and I knew that this would be brilliant for me and my personal growth. Without hesitating, I applied for the job and couldn’t be happier when the company got back to me. After answering some tricky job interview questions (asked by my future manager Florian), my course for the next few months has been set. So I started to pack my suitcases and moved to London.

The first day in the office

After a few days getting used to my new life in the big city, it was time for my first day at KeyNest. I still remember how excited I was but also how nervous I got when I walked through the office door.

A few minutes in, I already knew that I would be in good hands. Everyone in the company was super friendly and I felt very welcome to become the new member of the team. Throughout my entire time at KeyNest, the team and the work atmosphere in the office were great and exactly what I was hoping for. When I started my internship, it was still quite summery in London and I enjoyed having lunch and after-work drinks at the rooftop terrace of the office building with an incredible view over London.

After-work drinks with the team, on the office’s rooftop

Working at KeyNest

My days at KeyNest always started with a nice walk to work and a hot coffee or tea when I arrived. After my training phase at the beginning of the internship, I learned new things day by day and finally settled into the company very well. I liked the tasks that I had to do during the internship (I was working with the operations department and was responsible for the customer service for Germany), as it has always been very varied and never boring.

I enjoyed it when I sometimes had to go to some of the KeyNest Points all over London, to see how the business works outside of the office, but it also allowed me to discover some new areas of London.

It was also really nice to be part of the team when we got a visit from customers from far away or received the first-ever batch of KeyNest tote bags. I also like to remember back to the day when new videos for the KeyNest website were recorded and everyone’s help was needed for the perfect shot. Therefore, the time at work passed very quickly - almost too quickly I’d say.

The day we shot the video in the office - I was a hand model for the day!

Slowly but surely the summer was coming to an end and the Christmas preparations were getting closer and closer. To get in the right mood, we were decorating the office with lots of Christmas decorations and started to count the days until Christmas. And as the holidays were just around the corner, it was finally time for the long-awaited KeyNest Christmas party.

The Christmas party started with a quiz in which the whole KeyNest team participated. It was a big virtual get-together with the KeyNest team from all over the world to spend time together. Not only the quiz but also other fun activities like the photo or TikTok contests between the teams were part of the afternoon. Lots of snacks and drinks were prepared and the Secret Santa gift exchange made the day even better. The whole Christmas party was filled with lots of laughter, nice activities and Ethiopian food to end the day with.

Summary of my time with KeyNest

All in all, my time as an intern at KeyNest was amazing! I’m glad that I got this great opportunity and that I took the chance and moved to London for the internship.

I’m very happy about all that I’ve learned at KeyNest but also about all the people that it has introduced me to.

Being an intern at KeyNest was the perfect combination between learning a lot and having loads of fun at the same time! It has been a very special life experience and I will always think back to my great time in the London office. I would have been very happy to stay a bit longer with the company, but now it’s time for me to go back to the university in Austria and show what I’ve learned during my internship.

I hope to stay in touch with the team and will follow the progress and development of this amazing company. Thanks to the whole KeyNest team, for making my internship an unforgettable time of my life!