Blind Applying - The Champions' blogs!

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internship

Greetings from Sanhattan – Santiago de Chile

(by Isabel Hertl)

One month is already over since I have arrived in Santiago de Chile and I cannot believe how quickly time flies when you are working in a great team and having a good time.

My first days in Santiago have been very easy going and relaxed. I moved into my apartment which is close to the office and with an amazing view to „Los Andes“.

I also did some sightseeing to see some of the most important “spots” of Santiago. By this occasion I already discovered my “favorite place” in this great city. I know it is a bit early to say that, but if you have ever been to the “Cerro San Cristóbal” you know exactly what I am talking about! And even more with a spectacular sun-set that I was happy to watch.

Another favorite place of mine is “Codelco”. That is the biggest copper producer in the world and this is where I am working and spent most of the time with my EY-team. Since day one I felt super integrated and like a real working member of this team. My tasks are very interesting and all my colleagues are helping me out whenever I get stuck or have a question.

My weekends I have been spending so far with traveling. For example I have already been to Valparaíso. This is a lovely place to discover – next to the Pacific Ocean with beautiful and picturesque streets and small colorful houses, chilean handcrafted souvenirs and little cafes and restaurants all around.

That’s all for today – will be continued soon!

Best regards,

Isabel

Here we go!

Visa issued, flight booked, package ready and here we go!  were great. I had the chance to get an insight in interesting projects and also prepare the materials for my project which I will take with me to the U.S.

Too bad this first part of my internship is already over. My dear colleagues surprised me on my last day with a super cool farewell party and made it hard to say goodbye, even after this short period. But I’m fully on tiptoe of what will expect me in Chicago. During the last years, my family and friends have been pretty experienced with saying goodbye. The farewell at the airport was unspectacular :-)

After having landed in Chicago, I was overwhelmed by the dimension of Chicago O’Hare Airport. With my whacked feeling, my biggest concern was about getting the right car, manage the American way of driving and find the way to my new home for the next months. But for sure, everything went well, I arrived happily but super tired in my hotel.

On the next day I was exploring the surroundings of my new temporary home and got a little cultural shock due to the dimensions here. My first visit at Walmart was great! After accepting that it is normal to buy a whole canister of milk (3,785L) and that the Americans seem to like vodka sauce on their pasta, I went to Chicago Outlets to do some more shopping before I went back home. On my first day in the T-Systems North America Office. I had a very warm welcome, got to know a lot of my new colleagues and they organized a nice pizza party for my welcome. All in all a great start here in the US!

Time flies… and things get done

(by Gonçalo Guerreiro)

I started my internship at ABB in the beginning of March and it has been an incredible experience so far. From the first steps in the office, to the opportunities of wandering around Krakow, a lot has happened and, as my project moves forward, I realised I haven’t shared much about it yet.

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Since I joined ABB, I have been working to develop a proof-of-concept for a “new” type of controller. This means I am building a simple version of a controller to test the feasibility of a new approach. If successful, the technology can then be improved, scaled, and may be applied in future products.

What can it be used for?

Controllers are very common in today’s technology: industrial processes, automotive applications, aerospace industry, among others. They are capable of monitoring a system’s operation and control its future behaviour. The controller I am working with could end up being used in almost any application but, for now, the plan is to test it in a water-pumping system and in a servomotor to assess its efficacy.

New?

Control has been around for quite some time and it’s widely used. The novelty in my project comes from the usage of parallel processing in a predictive controller. Predictive controllers calculate the input for a certain system by comparing its actual state to a programmed desirable behaviour in order to match them. Predictive control problems can easily become very complex and difficult to handle. However, it is very likely they could be solved more efficiently with the use of multiple processors rather than a single processing unit (the usual approach). This possibility has motivated my research and I have been exploring it for the past two months.

How am I doing it?

In order to develop the project I have been using as a main tool, one FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) in which I implemented a multiprocessor architecture. I am programming the system using the C language. While I was not a stranger to some of the tools / concepts I am using, the amount of learning  has been incredible.

The status

I am happy with the developments so far. I already have a basic working version of the controller and the next steps will be its improvement and testing in a real situation.

That was the sum-up of my project so far. I hope it has some appeal for the engineers out there and that I didn’t geekify it too much for the others!

Some other updates: I have just received a video camera from ABB to do some video diaries from my experience during the internship and next weekend I will be travelling to Zurich for a week of workshops at the global headquarters together with global trainees from all over the world. I will keep you in the loop!

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.

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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.

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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 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 Gonçalo, the Blind Applying champion of ABB!

Gonçalo has studied in Lisbon and Karlsruhe. He is starting his internship just today at Kraków.

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

I am thrilled by the opportunity to have this first experience with ABB, a company that I very often heard about while studying. I am curious to see the innovation in R&D from the inside, and I am also looking forward to meeting great people during this internship. Can’t wait to start!

Which sight in Krakow are you looking forward to visiting the most?

I don’t have a particular “must-go” place. Krakow seems super interesting, as well as the whole region. I definitely see some opportunities for cultural and hiking escapes around!

In your opinion, which is the coolest innovation in technology in the last 5 years?

Even though these have been around for more than a century, I must say electric cars. Not only there have been promising developments the past few years, but also the future possibilities seem to be endless. Self-driving cars anyone?

Meet Anna, the Blind Applying champions of Deutsche Telekom

We cannot tell you the color of ‪#‎TheDress‬, but we can introduce Anna, the Blind Applying champion of Deutsche Telekom! Anna has majored in HR Management and has spent the first year of her Master’s studies in Bangkok. She is now getting ready for her internship in Human Resources in Chicago. 

What was your first thought when you found out you got the internship at Deutsche Telekom?

As I was keen on this great offer from the very beginning, I was very excited when I got the phone call from Deutsche Telekom and they told me that I’m the lucky one they chose for this internship. Now I can’t await this new adventure to start.

You’ve been to Thailand and Costa Rica, how does it feel to be starting an internship in the US?

I’m really looking forward to my stay in the US as it is a strong contrast to my former stays abroad. I am excited what kind of experiences I’ll make and how I’ll explore the intercultural differences.

Which book/ movie will you take with you?

I’ll take the book ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn with me.

How to, like, write cover letters and resumes and know what jobs to apply to and shit.

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morgulblade:

Basically I have been blessed to be close to people who work in hiring and were very, very willing to pass along their knowledge and tips and since a lot of people I know on here seem mystified by these things, I will share my vast wealth of knowledge with you*

*Some of this knowledge might be contradicted by specifics from your own field. If you’re a chemical engineer some of these things might not apply and that’s fine. This is just ~*widely applicable*~ stuff.

Cover Letters

Cover letters are the stupidest part of a job application. The cover letter is really only there to show two things: 1) That you have a command of language that is both accurate and appropriate; 2) you read the job listing.

  • Your cover letter should be short. The hirer has likely read hundreds that day, and by read, I mean “skimmed over lightly.” You don’t need to fill up an entire page. 
  • It should only contain pertinent information. Do not try to be cutesy or “creative” unless the job listing SPECIFICALLY asks for that. Trust me, I’ve had to hire people. Those people’s letters got passed around for mocking. DO NOT BE THAT PERSON.
  • It should speak to the job listing, but only enough that it shows that you read it. If the job listing emphasizes that they’re looking for somebody who is willing to work odd hours, throw in a line that in your past experience you have been noted for being flexible with time. It doesn’t need a Faulkner-length explanation.
  • If you know the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed, address it to them. If you it is a blind application, you don’t need to put “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam;” just don’t say anything.
  • Stop freaking out about it. Seriously, your CL is not nearly as scary as you think it is. If you want to see a screenshot if an example cover letter that is a “catch all,” click here. I just pulled this out of my ass for a fictional job/person.

Resumes

Your resume is not an “employment record.” Unless you have no experience, it should only list the things that are the most impressive or demonstrate your abilities the clearest. 

  • If you have an “Objective” on your resume, take it off. All of the employers I know said, “We KNOW your objective—you want the job! It just takes up space.” 
  • Always make sure that your resume is formatted cleanly and with maximum readability in mind. I strongly, strongly suggest visiting this link to see how to format your resume best. Visual cleanliness matters. 
  • Your resume should be ONE page. Just one. Not two or more. 
  • You can’t lie on your resume; you can learn how to make things sound more impressive. If you worked at a hair salon cleaning up, don’t say “Swept floors.” Instead write, “Contributed to the efficiency and cleanliness of the salon by sweeping floors.” It sounds like bullshit to you, but to a prospective employer, it sounds like you’re happy being part of a team. Try to describe what you did in at least 7 words.
  • You can divide your resume if you want to highlight certain experiences over others. Making two sections such as “Relevant Experience” and “Other Experience” breaks it up, allows the reader to skip around, and let’s you highlight what you want to highlight.
  • Learn to weed things out. Unless you can make it look like it taught you something huge, don’t waste the space. At the same time, if a job sucked but you can make it appear like it really impacted you, use it. This is not the truth about how you felt about that last job. This is you advertising yourself. You’re trying to get a job, not a Nobel Prize for emotional honesty. 
Now, what about the Skills section? You should have one, but as one friend said, “Nobody gives a shit if you went to France and had a great time. What we care about is if you’re proficient in French.” That should be your metric for things:
  • Only list experiences that would aid you in this job or a similar one—not things that were “cool.” This is the place for things that you’ve learned but perhaps can’t tie to a job. Examples: foreign language skills, clerical training, courses/certifications, etc. 
  • List all of the software that you know. Even if it doesn’t seem relevant to that job, weird things happen. List any MS Office/equivalent software, if you are familiar with both Mac and PC, any graphics editing software you know… 
  • SOCIAL MEDIA IS A THING THAT YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY MAKE KNOWN. To people ~30 and under, social media seems like a given. But to many employers, it’s a mystical world filled with equal amounts of marketing opportunities and terror. Make it clear what social networking sites you know how to use—obviously Facebook and Twitter, but also LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. 

Applying to Jobs/Interviewing

Unfortunately, I can give you less specific advice here because we are not likely working in the same field—but here are just some general things to file away:

  • If there’s a job listing that you feel qualified for but the listing says it wants more years of experience than you have, apply anyway. Those employers are unlikely to find that unicorn that has 4+ years of experience and is willing to work basically minimum wage. While more experience is a plus, they really just want somebody who can do the job. When it comes to applying to jobs, you really have nothing to lose by applying to anything that tickles your fancy. 
  • Interviewing is an entire post unto itself, but I’ll give you the tips that I’ve been given by my people: be calm, be on time, and ask good questions. Always have some questions lined up, even if you already know the answer. “What are you looking for in the right candidate?” is a good example, or “Are there opportunities for growth within the company?” etc. 

Accepting a Job

So you got a job offer; exciting! Before you immediately accept, really vet the place to make sure it’s somewhere you’d like to work. Months of unemployment make you desperate, but sometimes jumping at the first opportunity it isn’t worth it. THIS HAPPENED TO ME, LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. 

Things you should think about:

  • Do I know ALL things about the job, including: what I will be paid/how often, if there are benefits and when I get them, what hours I am working, how overtime is handled, how sick time is handled, etc. These are all incredibly important to know and if your employer is legitimate they will welcome you asking them. 
  • Is the distance commutable, or is it too far from home? (Think about how transit/gasoline will cut into your paycheck.)
  • Does the job give me the time necessary to do other important things?
  • Does the office environment seem like one I can spend at least six months in? (Every month at a bad job feels like an eternity—if you have bad feelings, trust them.) 
  • Does the job offer me anything besides a paycheck? Will I be learning any skills at this job or making important connections that can help me down the road?
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message or whatever, I’ll gladly answer to the best of my ability! GO GET ‘EM. 

Vital information for your everyday life. 

All of this is just true!

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