Our trainees

This experience has helped me realise that I would like to focus more on EU security going forward. To anyone considering applying: it has been a 10/10 experience for me, and I highly recommend it. 

Working at Frontex means lots of responsibilities and tight deadlines, but first and foremost an exciting and empowering experience. I would recommend it to anyone - the combination of gaining first-hand work experience at a European agency while meeting friends from all over Europe is just hard to beat.

When I came across the vacancy, the position immediately struck me as the best fit for my professional profile and interests, and the one which I felt most qualified for. Having just completed my master's degree, I was eager to put my academic background into practice.  

I joined the Regional Analysis Unit, South Team, which combines the three things I find genuinely interesting: geopolitical analysis, intelligence work, and statistics. My main tasks include drafting country fiches on North African countries, producing overviews of visa policies, updating databases, and providing the team leader with weekly updates on the latest developments. I particularly enjoyed working on country fiches – Sudan was an especially fascinating piece of research for me.  

Through this work, I am refining my writing and analytical skills, building up my expertise in the statistical software package SAS, and deepening my knowledge of North African affairs. Having lived, studied, and worked abroad for many years, the multicultural environment feels very natural to me. Warsaw is a city full of life and warm people, in which I feel very welcomed.  

My traineeship has opened my eyes to opportunities Frontex and the EU community have to offer, which is now a path I plan to pursue. To anyone weighing up where to apply, my advice is to take a closer look at what EU agencies like Frontex have to offer. Frontex opens a lot of doors to an interesting career for anyone interested in European border management and security.  

What drew me to Frontex was the opportunity to see how the EU works behind the scenes. With my studies in international relations and a growing interest in migration, the traineeship felt like a natural fit. Moving to Warsaw was also a big part of the appeal, and the city has turned out to be much more than just a temporary destination. 

I joined the ETIAS Outreach team, where no two days look the same. I enjoy that variety a lot, whether it is media monitoring, drafting articles and social media content, or working on campaign materials and the ETIAS quarterly magazine. There is something very rewarding about seeing a piece you worked on slowly go through all the steps and finally being published. I have also learned how important communication is in the EU context, especially when explaining complex topics like travel requirements in a clear, accessible way. 

What has surprised me most is that your voice is genuinely heard, regardless of your status as a trainee. Colleagues are open to your ideas and feedback, and you quickly feel involved in the work. Working in this multicultural environment has also been a real highlight, as I have learned countless small things about different cultures along the way. Did you know, for instance, that Finns drink more coffee than Italians? 

Warsaw itself has been a real highlight. It feels underrated yet full of energy, from cosy cafés and bakeries to green parks and busy squares. It is a city that constantly grows on you, even if you do occasionally get stuck in traffic and end up switching back to the metro and trams. 

My advice to anyone considering applying is to go for it and not hesitate to ask questions. You may arrive as a trainee, but you quickly feel part of the team. 

What drew me to Frontex was a long-standing interest in EU governance, migration policy, and the Agency’s distinctive role within the Union. After completing a master’s degree in international and European law and spending some time at a global mobility company, I was keen to bring this background into an environment where these policy areas are shaped in practice. 

I joined the Support Office of the Director of the Operations Support Division, attracted by both its administrative and managerial dimensions and by the opportunity to take part in high-level meetings with a wide range of stakeholders. My role involves providing project support by monitoring and ensuring the timely delivery of tasks across the Division’s entities, contributing to sound administration by helping to maintain up-to-date records, and assisting in setting up and supporting meetings with a variety of individuals. From very early on, I was invited to attend a range of meetings, including the general divisional meeting on my fifth day – an experience that gave me a remarkably quick introduction to the environment and how the Agency operates. 

This traineeship has significantly strengthened my multitasking and organisational skills, my ability to prioritise, and my capacity to perform in a fast-paced and politically sensitive environment. Working alongside colleagues who bring extensive expertise from their respective home countries has shown me just how much each national perspective adds to the debate we have at the European level. 

Warsaw is my hometown, so being able to work here, in a field I genuinely care about, is an exceptional privilege. It is a vibrant, green, and inviting city with plenty to do outside of office hours. I am eager to continue my journey at Frontex after my traineeship ends. To anyone interested in EU governance and border management or simply curious to see how the fastest-growing EU agency works from the inside out, I can wholeheartedly recommend this experience. 

I applied for a traineeship at Frontex out of a clear professional aspiration to work in the field of my studies. After graduating with a degree in international cooperation, I spent two years as a language teacher at the University of Strasbourg, and joining Frontex felt like the natural next step toward the policy-oriented career I had been preparing for. 

I am part of INTCOR within the Return Division, which strongly corresponds with my academic background. My daily work involves keeping pace with my team’s busy schedule that includes attending meetings, taking notes, participating in seminars, and drawing on a wide range of knowledge sources, from good practices in the area of return and the modus operandi of operational activities to the legal framework underpinning our contacts with various stakeholders. One particularly memorable moment was contributing to the Bangladeshi delegation visit and the Country Working Groups on Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 

The traineeship has strengthened my teamwork skills, increased my degree of flexibility, and improved my understanding of EU work ethics, and it has shown me how much flexibility, efficient teamwork, and assertiveness are required across every area of our work. The international environment is welcoming, secure, and genuinely diverse, and Warsaw has proven to be a very pleasant city to live in. 

This experience has, in fact, exceeded my expectations, and I would like to continue working at the Agency after my traineeship ends. To anyone hesitating, my message is: just do it. 

I first heard about the Blue Book traineeship from a friend working for another European agency, who recommended it to me as a great experience to gain after finishing my studies. With a background in agriculture and computer science, I was curious to see how I could combine such diverse skills in a new professional context. 

I applied to the Field Logistics and Services sector because I wanted to learn more about logistics as a broader concept. Day to day, I support my team across its activities, including tasking, data collection, and the creation of support tools in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. One project I am particularly proud of is an automated Excel tool I built that takes raw tasking data as input and, through a series of calculations and formulas, produces the figures and graphs used in our overview reports. This kind of work has helped me develop my IT and communication skills in equal measure.  

Through the traineeship, I gained insight into the inner workings of policy creation and logistical support for the Agency and experienced the benefits of a multicultural work environment. Working in a multicultural environment is always interesting, mainly because of the many varied approaches people with different backgrounds and points of view bring to solve the same given problem, opening possibilities you might not have considered on your own. Additionally, as a bonus, you become friends with people from different places around the world, giving you more reasons to travel and visit those places during your future journeys.  

Warsaw has been a great place to experience all of this. It has grown into a beautiful city with modern districts, plenty of greenery, and any service you might need close at hand. My personal favourite is a small French café near the office, run by a wonderful owner. 

After the traineeship, I would like to remain in Field Logistics and Services, ideally through an interim contract. The working environment at Frontex is excellent and the experience invaluable, so to anyone setting off on this adventure, my advice is simple: make the most of it. Five months sounds like a long time at the start, but it goes by very quickly. 

I come from a family that has moved around a lot, partly because my father also works at Frontex. My studies and interests have always revolved around media, and I had just completed my bachelor's in international media and entertainment business, when I came across the vacancy. Although I had never expected to end up at the Agency myself, I realised that the Frontex mission could give the kind of media I wanted to produce a real sense of purpose. 

My day-to-day work revolves around producing visual content: editing short- and long-form videos, filming and photographing events, and interviews, creating motion and still graphics, and brainstorming new concepts and formats for Frontex’s social platforms. The skill I am developing most is the ability to explain complex ideas in a visually engaging and accessible way. I have particularly enjoyed brainstorming the future of Frontex's content and thinking about how a fresh media approach could shape the way the Agency is seen. 

Working in a multicultural environment has shown me how much thought goes into communicating across borders, since a lot of our content is co-produced with partners from other countries and every decision must be weighed against their cultural context. Working alongside colleagues from different backgrounds has been my normal from a very young age, so that side has felt very natural. Warsaw itself feels familiar too: I had lived here before, and coming back across spring and summer has been a sentimental experience, the city green, vibrant, and full of ambitious people. 

What this experience has confirmed, more than anything, is that I enjoy having a greater sense of purpose in my work. To anyone considering applying, I would recommend it as much for the perspective it offers as for the professional opportunities. As a European, working here makes you realise just how much effort goes into protecting the rights we tend to take for granted, like freedom of movement, and how much EU agencies rely on younger generations to carry that mission forward.