During my studies I often asked myself in which field I would like to start my professional career. Family, friends and fellow students told me different things about all professional fields. It soon became clear to me that it was going to be a trainee program so that I could get an overall picture of the all the possibilities and departments. This would give me the opportunity to dive into the structure of a corporate group, make contacts and find out which topics are particularly interesting to me.

I was immediately impressed by Evonik's profile: With 15 months and a total of six permanent positions, one elective position and one international position, the trainee program is really streamlined but thematically very broad. In my opinion, the duration is chosen very well in order to get a good overview of the company, the people and the opportunities. The contacts I was able to make during my trainee program still help me with my day-to-day business to this day.

In addition, the program offers many scheduled training seminars, regular exchanges with two mentors, a selection of financial managers at Evonik, and a high degree of flexibility. This gave me the opportunity to work for three months as the first trainee at the Seoul branch in South Korea. In addition to my chosen position at Investor Relations, this period is my personal professional highlight. For one thing, team spirit has a very special, family-like value here, and it has also been very valuable to get to know the local work processes and key topics.

The trainee program was extremely rewarding for me: On the one hand, it has an excellent reputation within Evonik and the employees in the individual departments have involved me directly in the day-to-day work and demanding projects right from the start. On the other hand, in the long term you have many opportunities to maintain your network beyond your own department. For example, there is the annual Finance Trainee Alumni Meeting. This is organized by the new trainees and had a workshop aspect in 2019 where we dealt with current financial topics. The event has been complemented by participation and a joint dinner with Evonik's CFO, Ms. Ute Wolf. 

The exchange with the other trainees, the visibility in the management of the finance department as well as the appreciation highlight the program and the corporate culture. In my opinion, Evonik has an excellent working atmosphere. Colleague cohesion is very strong, and you can rely on each other well even in stressful phases.  

After the program, I was offered several positions, so I was able to start my preferred career in operational controlling at Performance Intermediates in Marl. Due to the structure of the plant, the division is highly complex, interesting and instructive. Evonik itself actively encourages and encourages people to move to other areas, occupations or countries. My supervisors are very helpful and interested in my professional development, so I am confident that I will be able to tackle challenging new tasks in the future.