Hello Mrs. Goldschmidt! As part of your studies B.A. Journalism and Corporate Communications, you did an internship. Please tell us more about your application phase!
My application phase for the internship was very exciting. I applied to many small and large companies and had many job interviews. Although I already had one or two offers, I had not yet found the perfect internship. I only found it here in Leverkusen! However, I have to say that the experience of the many interviews helped me a lot and made me more confident.
At which company and in which department did you work as an intern?
I completed my internship at Bayer AG in Leverkusen. I worked in the HR department in the field of marketing for vocational training and was responsible for communication.
Which module contents from your studies could you apply in practice?
During the internship I was given responsibility for social media communication of various channels of marketing for apprenticeships, planning and organizing various advertising measures, events, fairs etc. and internal communication with apprentices and students. This enabled me to make good use of the journalistic modules such as TV, print and radio journalism, especially in the editorial area. In addition, the module of online strategies was very useful to me, especially when creating the editorial plan.
The practical subjects of corporate communications prepared me for the structures, cooperation and processes of the internship. But of course the modules PR & Marketing and Economics were particularly helpful to me, as I was actively involved in marketing.
„Especially for the editorial and marketing tasks during the internship, the module contents from both journalism and corporate communications were of great benefit to me.“
What did you particularly like?
I have to say that I have ended up in a really great and competent team that has seen me as a full member from the very beginning. Here, you were not stamped as an intern to make coffee, but were "thrown in at the deep end" right at the beginning and assigned important and demanding tasks. The events "Bayer Welcome Day" and "Bayer AppNight", for example, were both projects that I was responsible for planning and which were both successful.
So the program was not just office work, but a varied schedule with many trade fair assignments, school lectures and events.
How far did the internship help you with your future career goals?
Since my internship, it has been clear to me that I am very interested in the human resources department of companies. I could very well imagine working in the field of recruiting, marketing or operational management - something that had never even occurred to me before. The internship has also encouraged me to do a Master's degree at HMKW, in order to consolidate more economic knowledge aspects and thus to be able to be part of the management level of a global company like Bayer one day.
Is the company interested in employing more HMKW students as interns?
I think that my department was very satisfied with me, because I was not only allowed to do 20 to 24 weeks of internship, but 30 weeks in total. The "Bayer Training" department employs a new trainee every six months, so I think that applications from HMKW students would also be welcome. The tasks within the internship are very suitable for the Journalism and Corporate Communications program, but could also be very appealing to business psychologists.
„For me the internship was one of the best times of my life. There were many exciting tasks to solve, which made me grow personally and also taught me a lot.“
Would you recommend an internship at this company to your fellow students?
For me, this was one of the best times of my life, which is why I can recommend an internship at Bayer AG to anyone without a single doubt. Despite the size of the company, you are not just one of many but you are respected, you work across departments and are seen as an equal. There are many exciting tasks to solve, and I have personally grown and learned a lot from them. It's a great feeling when you've spent weeks working on something and then, at the end of the day, you're successful.