Today, we offer you firsthand insights into the journey from intern to analyst through the voices of Maria and Francisca.

Maria and Francisca embarked on their journey with us as part of the Blue Bio Value growth programme. This experience allowed them to engage with founders and startups within the blue bioeconomy landscape, interact with experts, and immerse themselves in a field where business meets purpose.

Earlier this year, Maria and Francisca graduated to analysts at maze. We asked our former interns some curious questions, inviting them to share their lessons, challenges, and journeys into the impact career space.

Lucky us.

I was finishing my Master’s Thesis in Philosophy when I came across the internship at maze on Linkedin. I was drawn by maze’s mission, but also by the fact that it seemed to gather a group of passionate individuals, each with its niche interest, around the same purpose: bringing about positive change.

The last months at maze have surpassed my expectations. I have found a group of colleagues who are truly striving to “build a good name” and with whom I learn every day. I have also discovered that “impact” is complex and requires creative answers, which at maze has led to the development of different tools that I am eager to continue exploring.

In the last months, I have been part of the core team implementing the 6th edition of Blue Bio Value Acceleration. As an intern, I had the chance to participate in every step of the project, which included scouting, selection, preparation, delivering individual support to founders, and, finally, hosting founders in Portugal for three weeks.

There were many memorable moments, but I would highlight the weeks in Portugal. From finally meeting the founders in Lisbon to seeing them deliver their pitch at the final event, these weeks were the most gratifying.

Being part of the core team delivering Blue Bio Value since the beginning, I was gradually trusted with more responsibility, which led me to develop ownership and autonomy. I consider these to be fundamental in the transition to an analyst role.

In a broader sense, maze has shown me that there are many different professional paths I can follow, all within the same company. This is extremely important to me as I am starting my career and want to explore different types of work.

I believe that working at maze will give me the chance to interact and work closely with very different stakeholders. From startups to foundations, from corporates to the public sector, there will be countless opportunities to make a positive impact and to become part of this great ecosystem.

You don’t need to be perfect to work in impact. So, if you think you can contribute in this space, don’t shy away from applying!

I strongly believe the political, economic, social, and environmental challenges of our days, many of them a product of industrial and technological development, could be seen as the major driver for economic development, ultimately leading to progress and a more prosperous society for all. After graduating from Mechanical Engineering I knew that I would never work on anything that wasn't aligned with my vision of the world, but I also knew that I needed to broaden my experience and learn a lot about the impact space. Maze ended up providing me with that opportunity - and each day, it’s giving me a chance to contribute to long-lasting social change while doing my job.

Being passionate about science, technology, and innovation, I would underscore the moments when we discussed with researchers their work in deep tech, in particular in the blue biotechnology field, so that we could help them transfer their knowledge from lab to market—this in the context of Blue Bio Value Ideation.

Regarding Blue Bio Value Acceleration, I would like to highlight the weeks in Portugal, where we hosted all Blue Bio Value participants for three amazing weeks in person, filled with activities, networking, field trips, and knowledge sharing. Finally, meeting all the founders and seeing how their work evolved in less than two months was very rewarding.

As an intern at Blue Bio Value, I had the opportunity to be involved in the programme from beginning to end. This process entailed several stages, from scouting to preparing the final weeks in Portugal, demanding from the team different types of work (desktop research, reporting, operation & logistics and individual support to R&D teams), allowing me to grow on several fronts throughout the process. Additionally, I always felt that our programme manager, Marta, always paid attention to the strengths and preferences of each team member, with some of the tasks being assigned based on that, making the whole team thrive and keeping us all motivated. Altogether, this eventually led me to gain more autonomy, responsibility and ownership, which was critical to progressing to an analyst role.

This is very stimulating and incentivises dialogue and empathy, creating the perfect conditions for a young professional such as myself to grow and thrive. On top of this, everyone in the team is truly committed, hard-working and caring, always willing to go the extra-mile to deliver the best work possible, which is also very inspiring and motivating.

Being a fox (and not an hedgehog), I thrive multidisciplinar environments and when I’m exposed to different topics and realities. Being assigned to different projects inside maze has given me that opportunity - to dive in different topics, contexts and approaches and to work with different colleagues and stakeholders. I believe that part of my growth trajectory within maze will be closely connected to this possibility of being exposed to several realities and learning from them.

If you want to improve the lives of people and the planet in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, don’t miss the opportunity to explore this space and start looking to societal challenges with the impact lens. The impact sector is looking for people like you, people that want to connect the dots and that are curious and willing to learn as they go!

📍Don’t miss out on more impact opportunities here.