goodbye

See you soon Chicago!

(by Anna Ahnert)

Madison, Wisconsin is one of the most popular college cities in the US and therefore Philipp, the other Blind Applying intern working for Fresenius in Chicagoland, some friends and I decided to go there for another road trip.

During the day it is a cozy, nice and calm city but appearances are deceiving! It’s getting crazy at night! We had a great time sitting at the student union on the riverside of one of the numerous lakes, had super Thai food and discovered the college bars.

But, also in Chicago there were a lot of things to do. We tried the famous ‘taste of Chicago’ food festival, went to free concerts in millennium park, played beach volleyball and never got bored.

The summer and with it my internship is almost over. I can look back to five months packed full of new experiences, challenging projects and a great team behind it!

I've learned from experience that it’s best to approach things without big expectations, so that it’s more likely to get surprised by great experiences. That’s what happened here as well. When I got the internship in Chicago I did not know at all what to expect. And now? I loved every single part of it!

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I love Chicago! The city offers so much, especially during the summer and I loved my job. It was great to see how T-Systems North America acts as one part of the big Deutsche Telekom group within the agile telecommunications market. This internship was definitely a precious step for my future career and I’d like to thank everybody who made this possible to me. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back one day!

Auf wiedersehen,
Anna

Time to say goodbye….

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(by Yoshiki Fukuda)

My Merck adventure ended already end of June. Overall, it was a very instructive and interesting time. On the one side, I got an inside in In-House consulting work and the broad topics they are working on. I believe that the differences between In-House consulting and external consultancy are very small. On the other side, I got a feeling of Merck’s business and possible future topics and challenges in the chemical industry.

In my last blog entry, I was describing the beginning of a "process optimization" process with some basic research and the kick-off event as an official starting point.

What happened after the kick-off event?

In general, we were figuring out solutions for the process optimization and provided the best solutions to the department manager to select. But to start from the beginning...

First, we started to define a framework by identifying parameters which have an impact for the process optimization.

Second, we were identifying different solutions for the optimization and evaluated these regarding the defined framework.

At the end, we had two favorable solutions which were further worked out. The result was presented by the project leader in front of his manager for a final approval.

Unfortunately my internship ended at this point. It was a pity that I did not have the chance to see the implementation phase of this project. It was such a pleasure to work in this team and on this very interesting project.

The last day in the department

Since another intern of the department and me finished at the same day, we decided to bake some cherry muffins for the colleagues. Because our baking skills were very limited, we got help from a friend ;-) With her help we made very delicious muffins, which the colleagues enjoyed a lot.

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In my first blog entry, I said that this internship is a once in a lifetime experience and I was right. During these three months at Merck, I learned a lot of new skills and met a lot of new and enriching personalities. Sometimes I am thinking back to the day when I submitted my CV for Blind Applying and wish that I could turn back time to submit it again.

But the world keeps spinning! Currently, I am going through another internship in a consultancy till end of September to start my Master’s thesis afterwards. Hopefully I was able to give you an idea of my great time at Merck and my work in In-House consulting. If you have further questions about Merck or my Blind Applying adventure, I think that the Blind Applying team might be able to arrange a way to contact me!

Thanks to those who followed my blog and were part of my Blind Applying story!

Best regards,
Yoshi

Passing the torch over one full plate

(by Tanja Niemczyk)

Hello hello everybody!

Back again and this time it’s me, Tanja. Yes you are reading correctly, after numerous interesting and entertaining posts Laura is retiring from her reporter duties at Coca-Cola …for now! So from now on, I am going to tell you all tiny little secrets of the life of an intern here at Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG.

But first of all, let me introduce you to my small team: Katja, Karsten and me. 

As mentioned in the last post, I am working in the marketing department – new ventures.  We have a special focus on promoting new brands, like for example our delicious coffee CHAQWA (and yes this is supposed to be hidden advertisement ;-) ). You won’t be able to buy our beans just yet, but you might know us from vending machines or your bakery next door.

I joined the team right in the middle of a product line change. The coffee bean line was improved, renamed and the packaging altered. As a result we had to create new promotion material and adapt old ones.

What do you think is the most challenging part in changing the portfolio? The production? The new promotion campaign? Nahhh, it is the adaptation of the internal processes. In such a big company, it takes some time to inform everyone from the logistic manager to the call-center employee. Until everyone in the company was on board, there were quite some e-mails sent and people called or informed during lunch.

Right at the beginning my colleagues revealed a big surprise to me. After just two weeks in the company, both of my two team members would already leave for their well-deserved two week holiday.  I had to fill in for all operational requests and take over some sub-projects. So a lot of responsibility right at the beginning of my internship.

If you are wondering what happened to Laura, well she was busy introducing me to the magical world of Coca-Cola. In her last few weeks she showed me all the hidden places in our building,

How to handle the tricky soap dispenser...

... how to pose in front of our newest family member ViO BiO ...

... and how to use our company coupons for free bottle crates.

(Help, I just can’t stop this urge to showcase  hidden advertisement!)

Sadly, Laura’s four months came to an end way too fast. But she left with a big bang of course. Usually people bring cakes for their little goodbye event, but for the chef de cuisine Laura that would not be challenging enough. So after standing hours in the kitchen she presented an amazing goodbye lunch to her friends and colleagues. Everyone, including myself, welcomed this new approach of making yourself memorable with enthusiasm and a full plate.

So now it is time for Laura’s final words to you. Get your handkerchiefs ready:

“Uhhhh, "final words" that sounds quite hard ;) But Tanja is right! Let's face it...It's time to say bye-bye, adios amigos, à bientôt, ahoi or as a German person would simply say "tschüssi"! But no time for tears! No, not today! It has been such a pleasure to keep you always updated with the latest gossip about our humorous and amazing time at Coca-Cola. I am not a fan of long and boring good bye ceremonies, so to keep a long story short: thanks to you guys for spending your precious time on following me! :)

And a big thanks to all my colleagues - from whom some have become good friends - for the unique and great working experience! Now it's time to get prepared for my next adventure...Paris it is! "Oui, oui  baguette" - here we go!"

Stay refreshed and excited about the next posts. Cheers!

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