Cléa - Unitech International - Part 2

Cléa decided to join the UNITECH International network during her master studies. In our students@Evonik blog, Cléa not only introduces you to UNITECH but also tells you about her application experiences and how she got to know Evonik.

UNITECH International as my springboard to Evonik

In the first part of my blog, I told you how I joined the UNITECH network – now let me explain you what it is really about.

The UNITECH International programme is divided into three elements: an academic exchange semester, an internship in a partner company and three professional skills development modules, each one running for about a week.

I did my exchange semester from September 2017 to February 2018 at the Politecnico di Milano in Italy. During these six months, I had the chance to meet many people from all around the world. I lived in a shared flat with five other UNITECH participants - I didn’t really know them before so it was a new and exciting experience for me. Five fellows with different personalities, a nice cultural mix and an unforgettable time!

The second seminar week took place in Milan, in January. Every team of about four people had a different case study, given by partner companies. The cases were randomly distributed among the groups, so I could not ask for a subject related to Evonik. Our subject was about digital twins and industrial drives for Danfoss, a Danish company doing heating and cooling systems. It was nice to discover something new even if mechanical and electronical systems are not really my field of interest. Fortunately, we still had enough time to get in contact with other companies during the week. Funnily enough, I met someone from Evonik who is now my colleague in NC-NBD!

From March to August 2018, I did then my end-of-studies internship at Evonik in Hanau, Germany, which was my first step into the company. I joined the Marketing team of the Business Line Animal Nutrition and worked mainly on the Green Ocean / Veramaris® topic. This joint-venture with the Dutch company DSM aims to offer an algal oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA as a replacement of fish oil in aquaculture feed. 

If you would like to have more information about this exciting experience, please have a look at my article on the Students@Evonik blog on Evonik Careers website. 

After a few months of internship, I realized that I would like to stay at Evonik for more than half a year. Indeed, I enjoyed having a deep insight into both marketing and nutrition and I wanted to contribute to the growth of the Nutrition & Care segment which welcomed me so warmly. Thus, I tried to meet people with different positions within the segment to have a better understanding of the multiple opportunities the company offers and I applied to several job offers online.

During the third module which took place in August 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden, we had the opportunity for several job interviews with partner companies. A few weeks after signing up for an interview with Evonik, I received a positive feedback on my application to the New Business Development team of Nutrition & Care. So, I cancelled the interview since I wanted to give someone else the chance to establish contact with Evonik. This part of the module was an ideal moment for all participants to get in touch with different companies - I know a few people who did interviews there and got a job quickly afterwards. During the three UNITECH modules, Evonik was always very present and open to discussion.

The aim of UNITECH is mainly to nurture your team work and communication skills, to give you occasions to interact with people and to build a network. It provides you with tools to develop your soft skills and be at ease in a professional environment. Personally, it helped me a lot to know myself better, discover my strengths and work on my weaknesses. Everything I learned during that year was very useful and I have been able to put it into practice at Evonik. 

All in all, the UNITECH International programme gave me the opportunity to work on myself and develop my professional identity. It was definitely my springboard to Evonik!

See you,
Cléa

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In the networks@Evonik blog, members from networks with which Evonik cooperates report on their experiences with the network and their work with Evonik.

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