First international BI internship: what it looks like

During the summer, the interns familiarize themselves with various tasks, supported by their own mentor and our entire Business Intelligence team. This team, comprising over a hundred members, is spread across several locations in Finland and includes about 30 members in Lithuania. This setup offers a great opportunity for the interns to gain valuable international experience while training abroad.

In our blog, we talked to Jade and Teemu from Finland, and Egidijus and Aurimas from Lithuania. We asked them about their training experience at twoday, how they felt about living abroad, and what led them to apply to our program.

Teemu Kupiainen, Student of Information Systems Sciences

Teemu, a fourth-year student at the University of Jyväskylä, heard about the international BI internship through his studies. "We had the chance to learn about the company, hear career stories, and ask questions," says Teemu. "All of that really motivated me even more to invest in the search for this internship."

The application process itself felt streamlined. "Even though there were more than a hundred applicants, the process was simple, and the communication was fast and clear. The interviews were pleasant, which strengthened the feeling that this is a good place."

For Teemu, twoday and Vilnius have seemed like a good choice. "We had nice office premises in a good location, and at least our data team was really nice. Everyone has been receptive, and help was easily available," he says.

The location brought additional motivation to apply. "I knew that Vilnius is a really great city, so of course it gave me more motivation to apply, knowing I would be in a new environment and a new city," he adds. "It's also interesting to see how things are handled elsewhere, even though the work was pretty similar here." 

"It's definitely worth applying here if you get the chance; the experience has been truly great."

– Teemu Kupiainen, Trainee

Teemu cites people, work and learning as the best things. "I've been able to meet new interesting people, apply the basic skills practiced at school, and learn a lot of new things," says Teemu. In the past few weeks, he developed new skills as expected. "Now it's interesting to see what can be produced from this data set in eight weeks and what can be learned during that time," Teemu sums up at the end of the interview.  

Jade Karrila, Master's Student in Information Management

In the fall, Jade will start her final year studying Information Systems Management at the University of Tampere. She learned about the internship through her subject organization's channels, though she was already familiar with twoday as a company from a previous year's excursion. Since the position seemed interesting and Jade already had a good impression of the company, she decided to apply.

Jade agrees with Teemu that the application process was smooth. "I had a few doubts about how the application process would go, given that it was entirely remote and in a different time zone while I was still on a student exchange in Singapore. However, it went smoothly, and the communication about the progress was excellent," she says.

The work tasks have also met Jade's expectations. "I've worked in my own field before, but not in an IT company like this, so here you can do things in your own field in an even more versatile way. My studies combine software technology and information analytics, which aligns perfectly with what we cover in the training." 

"A great opportunity to develop your skills, and the internship in Lithuania is truly a unique experience."

– Jade Karrila, Trainee

What Jade looks forward to most from the internship is working with new tools and deepening her skills with the ones she already knows. "For example, Microsoft Fabric seems interesting, I haven't used it before. Apparently, it's quite new in the industry, but it's already a popular tool," she says. "Power BI and many other tools are already familiar to me, but it's really nice to use them and deepen my knowledge," she continues.

Overall, Jade gives positive feedback about the internship: "Everyone has been very welcoming. The group was great, and the mentors were supportive of our work, as are the other team members," says Jade. "We interns and mentors were mostly in the office, but there was also a surprisingly large number of other people who visit the office regularly."

Aurimas Lebrikas, Data Engineer

Many people nowadays are changing their career paths, and Aurimas is one of them. He began in industrial engineering, working with lasers and optics and the data they generate. Aurimas also gained experience in project management and internal communication before reskilling as a data engineer.

The reskilling required a significant amount of effort. "I independently learned to work with the main tools essential for this position: SQL, Python, and Power BI," Aurimas begins the interview. "Then I started looking for an internship at a reputable company, and the opportunity at twoday was the cherry on top of my career change," he continues.

Aurimas lists the key areas he's mastered during the internship: "Medallion architecture, Azure Data Factory, Data Vault 2.0, Kimball data modeling, and ETL processes using SQL and PySpark. Additionally, I have worked extensively with Microsoft Fabric and Databricks for automation and developed Power BI reports with DAX measurements. My most significant growth has been with Microsoft Fabric and Databricks." 

The atmosphere on the team was something special for him. "Since unity for a common goal is the most important thing in life, the purpose of this internship was to bring everyone together to get to know each other, become friends, and help one another. That's exactly what happened – we all became colleagues and created a warm bond," cheers Aurimas.

"I started looking for an internship at a reputable company, and the opportunity at twoday was the cherry on top of my career change."

– Aurimas Lebrikas, Trainee

When asked about his future plans, Aurimas replies, "Man plans, and God laughs." He then adds, "The desire from the beginning remains the same – if there is an opportunity and space in projects for young data engineers, I hope to get it."


Egidijus Skrebė, Business Analyst

Egidijus followed a career path similar to Aurimas, moving into data analytics. During his automation studies, he realized that it wasn't the right fit for him. After graduating, Egidijus immediately started working in the IT field, initially in customer support, and later moved into business and systems analysis. He decided to quit his job before starting the internship. 

Since the internship was international, Egidijus enjoyed refreshing his English communication skills. However, most of his improvement was in technical areas. "We learned to work with essential data engineering tools and got acquainted with various methods for data modeling, transformation, visualization, and transportation. Most of what we learned was new to us," he says.

At twoday, the way of work suited Egidijus well. "You come to perform, socialize, and while performing, you work in a way that suits you – this approach aligns well with my view of work," he adds. "Everyone on the team was relaxed and always willing to help if you have questions, they seem to get along well".

"You come to perform, socialize, and while performing, you work in a way that suits you – this approach aligns well with my view of work."

– Egidijus Skrebė, Trainee

Egidijus is pleased with his internship experience and has no plans to stop. "My passion for data analytics has been a constant in my life. I have been drawn to working with data for a long time, as I see great value in providing individuals and businesses with high-quality and reliable data. With this information, we can make informed decisions and analyze situations effectively."