Leverkusen

I chose to spend my year abroad working for Bayer AG based in Leverkusen. I had spent six months there on my gap year and was conscious of the benefits that professional experience would have for my CV.

I spent my nine months split between two positions. Firstly, I worked for Canesten’s European Marketing Team, and then I worked in the Market Research department of Bayer’s subsidiary, Bayer Vital GmbH, which dealt with all business in Germany and Eastern Europe. The hours were long and the pay wasn’t great but the skills I gained from this period were invaluable. Add to this a fantastic social life gained from living in a Wohnheim (student accommodation) that housed other Praktikanten (interns) and Auszubildende (apprentices/trainees) – parties and nights out in Köln and Düsseldorf were fantastic as was watching on from the terraces as Bayer Leverkusen managed to come second in everything they entered that year.

Internships in Germany aren’t hard to find. Big multinationals such as Bayer, Siemens, Volkswagen, BMW, SAP, and Hewlett Packard amongst others are good places to start – they rarely advertise, but go to the jobs page of their website to get contact details and send off a covering letter and CV. But smaller companies are always on the lookout for interns to help out. I received offers from the Germany Institute for Cinema against Violence in Köln as well as the Rhineland Market Research Institute – try parents and friends for business contacts or type Praktikumstellen

Joe Goldstone