SCHOTT

The program I’m on requires me to find an internship with a German company from February until the end of June. We were provided with a lot of help in language school getting our Lebenslauf (German resume) together, and inWent gave us some German cover letter templates, but other than that, we are essentially on our own to search and find a company and field that we are interested in/that will want to hire us. Since my interests/skills aren’t narrowed (I’m not an engineer or anything), I was beginning to prepare myself for a long, drawn out search process and was really stressed about it (especially because almost every job I read about required a fluent German skill-set). I met with my InWent representative one day, and she suggested I should try filling out an application with SCHOTT, a huge international company that specializes in manufacturing and developing glass, among many other products. Their headquarters are a mere 5-10 walk from my house, I pass it nearly every day walking home, so I thought, why not? So I sent in my very first German application (via online), but instead of applying for a position, I filled out a generic application and then explained my interests/skills, hoping they might like me and decide where I could help them in the company instead.

Well, I was asked to come in a couple days later to interview for a Marketing internship. It was pretty much exactly how American interviews are…. except it started in German. I was proud of myself for being able to carry on small talk and understand my interviewer in German, but when it came time for me to explain why I was interested in the position, I asked if I could speak in English, which she had no problem with. She tested my German later on, though, asking in German what I did on my free time and what I thought some differences were between the US and Germany. I made a joke about the delicious German, but different, food, and she laughed for awhile so I guess that was a good sign. She then explained to me that even though the international business language is English, nobody speaks English in the office unless absolutely necessary (foreign clients, etc.). I told her that was perfect for me, and the best way to improve my German.

So, my interview was on a Friday and they called the next Monday and told me I got the internship! I start the beginning of February and apparently I’m going to be making a huge amount of money when it comes to German internships (woohoo!!!)…. expect that means I will have to start paying my rent now and no more money from InWent every month. Blah. I will be working at SCHOTT Solar in their Marketing department, which is working on marketing campaigns for SCHOTT’s renewable energy division. It’s a really exciting field since it is so new, so there is not an established road to success like there is in the Auto or Food industry. 

I also found out about some perks..... they have a full gym in their main building, along with a huge sports club that they sponsor which includes a bunch of different sports. They also have an American internship program going on currently, which they plan trips and programs for, and they said I might be able to join in. I’m really excited to begin, but I’m also really nervous about the “We speak only in German all the time” business… but I know that is what I truly need if I really want to improve. Wish me luck :)