Meet Tina Cliffoord

Different titles, same job - almost. And not quite the same tasks, but the same goal. That's how Tina Cliffoord describes her time as a GROW participant at Bonnier Corporation, at the TransWorld offices in California.

"Back home at Bonnier Tidskrifter I'm the traffic manager and responsible for print-ready material, ads and inserts and everything connected to them," says Cliffoord. "At TransWorld my title is association production manager, and I help with the traffic managers with what they get."

Cliffoord says that are plenty of differences between ways of working when it comes to the two companies.

"Our office in Stockholm is pretty much paperless all the way to the printing, but here we work a lot more with paper," she says. "You could say that TransWorld works the way Bonnier Tidskrifter did five to six years ago. But both companies work with the same goal: to ensure the print quality of the magazines."

The atmosphere at the office is similar to that in Sweden, when it comes to social activities and the work day.

"But here everyone wears flip-flops, shorts and a T-shirt!" says Cliffoord. "Not to mention that a lot of people surf during their lunch time."

And Cliffoord has managed to fit a lot in so far during her time in the U.S.

"It's so much fun to meet and get to know new people and how another company functions," she says. "And getting to change environments for three months! The challenge though is managing to learn and take in as much as possible during such a tight timetable, both in terms of work and socially."

Cliffoord advises: "You should definitely apply to GROW. It's such an amazing experience and you get to know yourself better, at the same time you get to experience a working life in another country."