Meet Justin, the Blind Applying champion of Siemens

Meet Justin, the Blind Applying champion of Siemens! Justin will soon be sharing his learnings from continuously improving processes, as he is doing his internship in Görlitz.

How excited are you to be starting an internship at Siemens?

As one of the biggest companies in the world Siemens is able to offer loads of
opportunities and paths to find your own way and that is what young people are
interested in.

Siemens describes its culture as “Always act as if it were your own company” and that implies in my opinion, not just a personal responsibility but rather, an open space to your personal fulfillment that makes this opportunity of starting an internship at Siemens so exciting.

You’ve stated marathon running as one of your hobbies. How has that helped you in your work?

Marathon running is like climbing a mountain. You need to be very focused to find the best way, persistent to keep sight of your goal and work hard over a long time to keep up. But when you reach the peak you feel greater than ever before. And that is exactly what is helping me in my work.

Sometimes work is very demanding too. Even so you will feel nearly as good as finishing a marathon if you reach your goals at work and that is pushing me in all kinds of situations.

Is there a person who has inspired you in life and work?

There is not one person I admire thoroughly because nobody is perfect. In my opinion it is more about admiring single features of people. For instance I admire some people for their passion for their company, others for their creativity or others for their fearless fights against injustice.

If you would mix all of these features maybe you would find the one person I would admire and I would aspire after, but as long as I don’t know this person I admire single characteristics and strive after them.

Welcome to my Merck-Experience! – My start in a once in a lifetime experience

(by Yoshiki Fukuda)

First of all, thanks to those who are interested in reading my Blind Applying story. My story started on a day in October, when I saw the Blind Applying advertisement as a suggested post on Facebook. I was very fascinated by the concept to “blind apply” to all participating companies with only one CV - no cover letter, no certificates and no transcript of records. This uncomplicated way to apply was my reason to give a try and upload my CV. Not too long after that, I was invited for a telephone interview which I successfully passed. I was really looking forward to start my internship at Merck. When I uploaded my CV in the first place, I have never thought that I would be chosen out of ca. 13,200 applicants. As you can see, nothing is impossible!

After I got accepted for the internship, I got a call from Merck offering me support for finding a place where I could stay during my internship. Even though I found a nice flat-share through a popular German website, I really appreciated the support from Merck which showed me how much they care about new employees. My flat-share is located only few minutes from Luisenplatz (see picture above) which is the heart of the city. I stay together with 3 flatmates who are studying computer science and electrical engineering.

At Lusienplatz there is a big public transportation hub and plenty of grocery stores and shops.

On my first working day, everything was exciting because the environment was still new for me. After finding the right street railway, it took me seven minutes to arrive at Merck. While waiting for a short welcoming from the HR at the visitor center I had a chance to meet other interns who were also starting their internships. Afterwards I was struck off to find the building section where the Inhouse Consulting Department was sited. The secretary gave me a tour at the office and introduced me to colleagues. It was a very warm welcome from everyone. I am sharing an office with two other interns who are also joining the Inhouse Consulting Department currently. In general the professional and educational backgrounds of the people within this department is widespread which makes it even more interesting to work with them.

Even though my first two weeks are already over, I had the chance to learn new things and work on interesting projects. Since day one, I am an active member of the project team with my own responsibilities and also opportunities to participate within all activities. Nevertheless I am still looking forward to all the new experiences in the upcoming weeks and months. Besides the professional experience, there are plenty of opportunities to meet, share and discuss about our new experiences with other interns from different departments. For example, at lunch break, I am joining a little group of interns having lunch together. Also, there is a “Praktikantenstammtisch”, which is an event organized by Merck and interns, taking place every Wednesday. At this event you will have the chance to meet interesting personalities from all over the world. Even during the weekend the interns having activities together like traveling to other cities or partying. However, the major language here is English due to all interns coming from different countries. I want to join the weekend activities in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully, I could give you a small idea of how my internship at Merck looks like.

See you next time!

Greetings from Darmstadt,

Yoshi

Meet Julia, the Blind Applying champion of Munich Ref

“You can do whatever you want to do with enough comprehension, endurance and friendliness.”

Julia is using her engineering knowledge to analyse risks in the area of renewable energies.

Given your engineering background, have you ever thought of working in insurance?

No, I never thought of working in the Insurance business. I had some points of contact within this business because of the project work I do. But I was very surprised when I got the invite from Munich Re.

You have been for a semester abroad in China. What has been your most interesting learning from that experience?

That you can do whatever you want to do and you can go wherever you want to go, with enough comprehension, endurance and friendliness.

Favourite book or movie?

My favorite book at the moment is a germen ones. It is “Sowas von da” written by Tino Hanekamp, who is the owner of one of my favorite clubs in Hamburg. I moved to Munich a few days ago and I am missing Hamburg a lot. So it feels a little bit like home when I am reading it.

Meet Erran, the Blind Applying champion of Stora Enso

“Teamwork is about respect not only to your team members, but also to yourself”. Erran will soon be traveling to Shanghai to do her internship in Sales.

What is, in your opinion, the most exciting aspect about working at Stora Enso?

Working in a team to achieve a common target and to succeed in a project has always appealed to me. Plus, since there’s a growing interest in a company’s sustainability efforts and Stora Enso puts a lot of emphasis on that, I would like to see how it works from an employee’s point of view.

Coming from China, you’ve been studying in Paris for 2 years. What have you learned from your experience?

For me, it has been more about an attitude towards life than what I have learned in school during the over-board time. When facing difficulties，instead of being pessimistic which will take you nowhere, it is more helpful to encourage yourself to do something to change the situation step by step. Another important lesson is a new understanding of teamwork. I used to believe that teamwork is just about cooperating. In fact, it’s about showing respect not only to your team members but also to yourself. Every good idea should be taken into consideration if a project is to succeed. Always being cooperative and compromising can sometimes be fatal to a team.

Which book/movie will you take with you?

Game of Thrones!

Coffee break in Cologne

(By Tessa Balg)

The first half of my internship at Deloitte is already over and it seems like time has just flown by due to the many things I have learned, the new people I have met and my awesome team. I used my leisure time to explore Cologne and thus want to show you two favorite places of mine.

If you ever visit Cologne, you can’t miss the Cologne Cathedral, probably the most popular spot in the city. Here you can see it illuminated at night. In the day time, you can also climb the stairs to the top.

As for my favorite place, where you can find me most of my weekends, and one of the most beautiful places in Cologne: The Salon Schmitz, a former butchery where they serve the best Café Latte in Germany and the most delicious Quiches. On the weekend it is so crowded, you hardly get a free spot without reservations.

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

Tessa

The first days - Magenta greetings

Caught in the reintegration phase of my master studies in Bangkok, I was willing to dare another adventure before my study time ends and real life starts. Via an advertisement on Facebook, I took note of the project Blind Applying and was absolutely delighted by this new approach to personal recruitment.

By uploading only your CV, you have the chance to be picked for one of the 21 internships of various employers – scattered all around the world.

In late December I got a phone call from Deutsche Telekom AG where they invited me to an interview for an international internship in the HR department of T-Systems in Chicago. After scanning over 14,000 applications it seemed like my qualifications and Deutsche Telekom’s values and expectations fit perfectly together. I was given the internship offer and for sure - how could I reject this great offer - I agreed!

I started my first days in Germany to gain an insight into the upcoming projects before moving to the U.S. The onboarding days were well organized, I got to know many team members, could get a first impression of all the exciting tasks in my department and also got a feeling for the magenta spirit.

From the very beginning I was exploring an appreciative atmosphere and was integrated in various projects. During my stay in the US I will mainly be charged with the implementation of the global job board in North America.

So I can’t wait the journey to start, just a visit at the U.S. consulate and the positive answer for my visa holds me back from Chicago!

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”

— Plato (via thatlitsite)

A month in Krakow

(by Gonçalo Guerreiro)

Yesterday, while talking to my colleagues, I realised that it’s one month already since I started my 3-month internship in Krakow at the ABB Corporate Research Center. I knew this already but it still feels like I have just arrived - that’s probably a good thing! Besides the time spent at workcarrying on my tasks (I will share more about it in another post), I got to see and know nice things about Krakow and today I will share some highlights with you.

Burgers are a thing!

Hipster-ish hamburger places are taking over Krakow and even though I was not a huge fan, I am somehow getting converted, lunch break by lunch break.

… as well as small breweries.

Self-brewed beer seems like another big trend here and as a consequence pubs with craft beer can be found a bit everywhere too.

Krakow is FULL of internationals.

The city is very international-friendly as most people are used to interact with the tourists and with the crowd of Erasmus students and foreign workers. I’ve met already several young people who just moved to the city too.

It’s cool to be a tourist.

I must admit that I haven’t exploited the full touristic potential of the city yet but what I’ve seen so far was great and there’s much more waiting. I took the picture below during a visit to Wieliczka Salt Mine with some friends. The impressive part: this room is located about 100 meters underground and surrounded by almost 300 (!) kilometres of galleries.

We were going to post street view photos from the offices of Munich Re, EY and Merck where three champions begin their internship today. Google Maps had other plans…

Meet Gianna, the Blind Applying champion of Peek & Cloppenburg

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Meet Gianna, the Blind Applying champion of Peek & Cloppenburg! Gianna will soon be sharing her insights from the preparations of the new season, as she is doing her internship in Düsseldorf.

How fitting do you find an internship at Peek & Cloppenburg with your career interests?

Since I have already had practical experience in the fashion industry (mytheresa, ChiChiFan Hamburg) and I have always been interested in the latest fahion trends, I can cleary see myself in a fashion oriented business.

Peek & Cloppenburg, being one of Germany’s biggest fashion companies, is the perfect employer for me to gain more work experience. Besides, I will get insight in the Buying department which is an area I always wanted to work in. This internship truly meets my career interests and I can imagine working for this company after my studies too.

Düsseldorf is known for its architecture and style. Any fashion tips for this summer season?

For a summer stroll a flyaway bohemian dress, or a delicate white dress, combined with espadrille shoes are essentials in every girl’s closet. But also bright colors such as red, yellow and blue are a must this summer season.

You have been to Paris, Shanghai and New Jersey. Which aspect of traveling do you like the most?

I am crazy about exploring a city or a country, trying local food as well as getting into some adventures. I really appreciate those memories and experiences in life. What I will never forget was snorkeling in the Bahamas while sharks were swimming next to me or the best cheesecake ever that I had in New York City.

glamour:

Via Pinterest.

creativemornings:

“If you want something fun and wonderful to happen, you have to make it happen. Be bold. Go out there. Do it.”
— Karyn Lu

Watch the video at http://creativemornings.com/talks/karyn-lu/1

Exciting, Innovative, Challenging

(By Tessa Balg)

For the minimalists among yourselves, I will describe my impressions of the first three weeks at Deloitte in three words: exciting, innovative, challenging.

My internship started in March and luckily for me my first day coincided with Deloitte’s welcome week, a week for everyone new to Deloitte’s German consulting entity. The onboarding days were not only a great introduction to administrative learnings, tools, and Deloitte’s organization but also the best imaginable way to internalize the spirit of Deloitte and socialize with your new colleagues directly.

The first three weeks of my internship passed by in a fast pace due to the many exciting tasks I’ve worked on: One of my projects has been to collaborate on the construction of a presentation for strategic innovation purposes. From day one I have been treated as a member of the team and not only as an intern. Everyone is highly intelligent and super sympathetic to work with. There is also huge potential for learnings that I can take with me. I hope my tasks will stay as exciting as they are right now and that I am able to continue with the personal and professional progress initiated through my internship at Deloitte.

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

Tessa

Our office space designated for meetings, lunch, and get-togethers with colleagues.

The internship at ABB is on!

(by Gonçalo Guerreiro)

Just like a strike, my first two weeks at ABB Corporate Research Center (CRC) in Poland passed by. These were quite intensive weeks: from moving and settling, to finding my way around my new city, Krakow, and having my mind flooded with new information. A lot of things! Or at least it felt so.

I want to start by sharing how I got here because it was quite an unusual path of joining ABB (or any company by the way). Back in November, close to completing my master thesis, I was diving into the job-searching world trying to spot any opportunity that seemed like the way for me to go. I don’t remember exactly how, but I found the Blind Applying website and it was compelling. How did it work? 21 employers scattered around the world were offering internships and you couldn’t just pick one. You would submit your CV to the pool hoping for your profile to be matched with one of the employers for an available placement - that is if you would match at all. I decided to give it a try.

One day in December I got a phone call: ABB was interested in having a first online-interview with me! Fast forwarding, it seems I was a good match as I ended up here writing these lines, in Krakow.

My first weeks were an interesting experience. On my first day I was welcomed by one of the HR managers I had been in contact with prior to my start at ABB. I had a short training on the building safety procedures and some logistics of the daily life at the CRC with the office manager. Some data about R&D at ABB was presented to me, and I was introduced to my supervisor, Daniel with whom I spent a couple of hours talking about what would be my main task. Quite a day!

The days following my start have been more focused, and filled with challenges and learning. Even though I was not a complete stranger to the system I am working with, there is now a whole new level of complexity, functionality and, as a consequence, possibilities. I am surprised with my own evolution since day one and yet, only two weeks have passed.

The ABB research facilities are located close to the city center and this allows me to go every day for a pleasant walk while searching for a new place to enjoy my lunch break. I am kind of a foodie and Polish cuisine is another promising world to explore during my stay in Krakow. It seems very good and eating out is relatively cheap here.

During my first weekend, which was quite sunny and warm compared to the weekdays (like every weekend should be right?) I took the chance to wander around the city and get into tourist mood. Krakow is a beautiful city with nice people. I took the pictures below last Sunday at the Wawel Castle.

At this point my hope for the next weeks is for the work to keep being as challenging and full of learning as it has been so far and that my newly developed skills will eventually allow me to do cool things with my assignment. I hope to make some new local friends and to become able to understand some Polish words too - for now my vocabulary is non-existent.

The adventure has just begun!

We’ll keep in touch,

Gonçalo

Meet Philipp, the Blind Applying champion of Fresenius

Philipp will be working at Lake Zurich, Illinois on a variety of IT projects. ‬

Were you expecting to do an internship in IT at Fresenius?

I was pretty sure that in case I get chosen for any internship it would be in an IT department. I was not expecting it to be at Fresenius, nor that the internship would be in the US. When I received the first email from Fresenius, I was expecting that the internship would be based in Germany. It was such a great surprise to learn that the internship will be in Illinois. I got really excited!

Are you thinking of doing any trips while you are in the US?

Definitely. I will be in the US for a two week long study tour with my university in the San Francisco Bay area in April. I also plan to explore the West Coast on my own a little bit, before the internship starts. But I haven’t thought about any possible trips during the internship until yet.

3 songs that will be on your traveling playlist?

Gui Boratto – Beautiful Life
Bipolar Sunshine – Daydreamer (Gryffin Remix)
SOJA – Everything Changes

Meet Tessa, the Blind Applying champion of Deloitte!

 Tessa has begun an exciting internship in Consulting-Innovation at Cologne, Germany.

Could you imagine that you would get the internship at Deloitte?

There are so many interesting companies participating in the Blind Applying program, but since I am strongly focused on consulting, Deloitte had been one of my favorites. I was hoping to have good chances of being interviewed, but I would have never imagined being chosen as their champion. Of course, I am more than happy to get this great chance.

You have organized fashion events and fashion is one of your main interests. What has fashion taught you about business?

Fashion is business and it also shows a lot of analogies to the business world in general. You work with many different kinds of people in fashion, which helps you to get along with and understand the perspective of different business partners - be it an experienced entrepreneur or a creative aesthete. Furthermore, you have to move with the trends to be in fashion and even stay ahead of them by creating new ones. It is the same in the business world. Companies that are able to invent products which meet the present wants of customers, are way more successful than the companies that are always in delay regarding new trends.

Is there a person who has inspired you in your life?

Yes, actually there are a few. A special one of them is my father, who showed me what it means to work hard in order to reach your goals instead of only chasing your dreams. He taught me that kindness, rather than resentfulness, puts you ahead, and he shaped my sense of justice. No matter where in the world I am or how difficult my situation might be, I know that he offers his help unconditionally. He is my kind of life insurance.

Meet Isabel, the Blind Applying champion of EY!

Isabel can’t wait to start her internship in Assurance in Santiago, the capital of Chile.

Were you expecting to get the internship at EY?

Not at all! I was really surprised when I got the phone call and Ms. Heiden told me that I could possibly go to Chile. It was the best birthday present ever!

What’s the best and worst thing about preparing your trip to Chile?

The best thing is that I now have a very good reason to improve my Spanish and I started already with an intensive Spanish language course, which I had planned. And the worst …I cannot really think of anything “bad” – apart from maybe getting the suitcase packed with the “right” things in it. 

Any local speciality you’re looking forward to trying?

There are a lot of things I want to do and try out during my internship. As far as I know Chile offers a big variety of sea food and exotic fruits, both of which I like very much. And I hope that on weekends there is some time for doing some sightseeing in Santiago and maybe a short day-trip to the Pacific ocean and the mountains nearby.

Meet Yoshiki, the Blind Applying champion of Merck

Yoshiki has been studying Chemistry and Management and is now getting ready for his internship in Inhouse Consulting in Darmstadt, Germany.

Which prospect of working at Merck seems the most exciting to you?

I am excited to get an insight of how Merck is developing drugs to fight diseases such as cancer, MS, etc.

You’ve been in a professional swimming club for 10 years. What is your most valuable learning from this activity?

I learned how to deal with failures and how to improve myself constantly for becoming a better swimmer.

Which book/ movie will you take with you?

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman.