or cheeky to ask this..? Work related

[Winteriscominginnit]

Keeping it deliberately vague so as not to be too identifying.

I will be doing an unpaid internship abroad in a couple of months. The contact in the department I will be working in was given to me by my boss (he has had dealings with the company abroad). I contacted them, explained who I was and who gave me their contact details, and asked whether I could intern with them. They agreed and now we are just finalising everything. Even though it's an unpaid internship they won't be getting anything out of it, it's a massive favour to me and will be very beneficial for my career. If anything it will cost them in terms of time and staff resources.

Here comes the AIBU part. One of my friends (she works for a different company in the same sector, so not a colleague) is also interested in doing an internship for the same company abroad, but a different department. My friend however does not have a contact and has been struggling finding information online/getting a response.

WIBU to email my contact abroad to ask them whether they might have a contact in the department my friend is interested in, to pass on to her?

I just don’t know whether it’s cheeky or not, considering I don’t really know them at all..! I'd rather not ask my boss for his opinion in case it's a blatant no no and he will think me unprofessional.

Thanks :)

I would wait till you get out there and make your own contacts them ask them. Or are you hoping you could go together ?

Yes we were. Career wise it would be better for her/us to do it sooner rather than later.

I wouldn't until I was already there and had made a good impression

Yeah that's what I was thinking too... I really want to help my friend, so when I heard she was struggling I offered to ask (she didn't ask me). It's only when I thought about it a bit more that I realised I may have been a bit too quick offering my assistance as it wouldn't look very professional on my part :/

I agree that I'd wait until I'd started. Surely a few months won't make that much difference to her?

Could she just not get a list of contacts herself and send out a block email explaining her interest and asking if anyone will be able to help her?

No, I would set myself up first it does look pushy a bit

I'm usually of the 'don't ask, don't get' persuasion, but in this instance, I wouldn't.

I've recently supported someone (whom I know and rate highly) to get a very sought-after internship in an organisation connected to my industry - probably similar to how your boss thinks of you.

I would not be happy if my person introduced another person off the back of my sponsorship before they had made their own mark; that should be done once he's made his own connections by proving himself during his time at the firm.

it is a bit awkward but you have jumped the gun slightly by offering; you'll need to go back to your friend and say you've realised it's slightly premature and you're happy reach out once you've got there and settled in.

By the way - depending on what industry it is - I think you're much better off going independently anyway... You'll make more connections and have to try harder to socialise if you don't take your own safety net.

Good luck, and well done.. your boss must think highly of you to have sponsored the opportunity.

I would advise caution for two reasons:
a) you may find that the company is not what it's cracked up to be and you will get the blame if she's unhappy there, if indeed she's taken on anyway.
b) the company may find that she is not suitable, ie not industrious, wrong attitude, etc and you will still get the blame.
Sorry, I know that this sounds awfully negative but this is down to my personal observations.

Thanks very much all; you have confirmed what I already suspected. I'll go back to my friend and explain the situation. Bit awkward but hopefully she won't take it badly.