Alum of the Month
Damien de Bruijn
October 2015
New York Program
August 2012 Intake
What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
A bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management at the INHolland University in The Hague, Netherlands.
What made you apply for the Mountbatten programme?
I wanted to build upon my international experience, and of course the opportunity to live and work in New York.
Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
I worked at Addison as a Client Service Associate - they’re a small corporate communications agency specializing in financial reporting. I was tasked with building out a niche business at Addison focused on SEC disclosure documents.
What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
One of the things that sticks out the most wasn’t necessarily a moment but something that I noticed throughout the year, which was that working for a small company really helped me shape my thoughts around where I wanted my career to go. Having worked for American Express before coming out to New York, you can quickly forget how many different elements are involved to keep a company running. Working for a small company where one day I was helping out IT as they were short staffed and the next day driving up to Connecticut to pitch a client, before completing a strategic plan for the business, really helped me identify what I liked most, and what I did not.
What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
Pretty much every weekend on Mountbatten was a highlight, not to say that there weren’t absolutely magical Monday mornings, of course. Evenings where we ended up at a rave on top of an industrial building in Brooklyn, or spending the full Thanksgiving weekend at a cabin in upstate New York, renting a Dodge Charger to race to a beach-house in New Jersey, trying to figure out how to rent a Mariachi-band for a MB social event, occupying the entire basement of Pranna for a Christmas brunch or renting a 50-liter tap at a bar for Superbowl - all of these memories will probably stick with me for a very long time. However, the one social highlight that stands out would be realizing that the guys you go out with - during what is supposed to be a 1-year stint - are going to be friends for life. So a big shout out to Thomas, Simon, Joe, Taylor and Staitey! I hope this alum write-up makes you proud.
Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship.
"Good things come to those who hustle while they wait" – Thomas Edison.
If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be?
Nothing.
What happened after completing the year - what did you do next?
I continued working in the corporate communications world, which says a lot about the value of my MB experience, considering the fact I knew next to nothing about this business before I moved to New York!
Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
I recently joined Investis, a digital corporate communications firm with their headquarters in London. But I’ve been lucky enough to join their New York office, where I’m helping them build out their US presence as they only recently entered the North American market.
Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
As I just started a new job my attention is really focused on the short-term, but I expect to complete my MBA in the next 3-5 years and if possible move to Asia for a couple of years. Other than that I have no definite plans, I’ll see what the future brings!