Anh - An internship in Digital Communications

Hi all,

My name is Anh! I’m an intern at Evonik in Essen and have been supporting the Digital Communications team for more than half a year. In short, I’m a Vietnamese student studying in Germany. Without any previous professional experience, I was looking for a mandatory internship 7 months ago and  ended up at Evonik. It supposed to last for 3 months, but I’m still here. The reason? Simple. I never ran out of tasks! My main responsibilities in the field of digital marketing include supporting the team in community management and screening social media. I even had the chance to participate in some big campaigns with the BVB football team. That gave me a close-up look at the campaigning process. For a greenhorn like me, just beginning my career, all of these were invaluable experiences.

In addition to my abovementioned tasks, I have also been supporting the Students@Evonik community for some time. My mentor encouraged me to do it, even though I was a little hesitant at the beginning. It took me a while to finally understand why he suggested me: #Networking and #Connecting! Those are some of the biggest buzzwords we have here at Evonik. By organizing lunch meetings for Evonik students once a month, we come together and exchange experiences within the group. I also help with the organization, get to know new faces and deepen my relationships with others. In addition, being an intern comes with limited authority in campaigns and events, which is to be expected. But lunch is organized by the students themselves. We make our own decisions and fully control the governance of the community. This autonomous teamwork gives us the practical experience of leading a team and a community in a real professional environment.

I am quite a shy person, which is why I was initially hesitant to support the Students@Evonik community. It’s because of my personality and partially because of my culture. Where I come from, building relationships comes first. Even though networking and connecting takes longer for me, I have always felt supported and welcomed. That is my first impression of Evonik. Its diversity and internationality are reflected throughout the company. Whether it’s at lunch with students from different parts of Europe or in the cafeteria, which sometimes mixes up the cuisines of various areas (vegan, Japanese, Mexican, Greek...). In other words: Having a different background is considered an asset!

I could write more, but every story needs an ending to be meaningful. I really love my experience at Evonik so far. Thanks to this opportunity, I have grown so much. So thank you to the Digital Communications team for having me, and for everything <3.

Yours, 

Anh

On the students@Evonik blog, students, who work at Evonik, share their experiences about life and work in the company.