Students@Evonik
Kerim - A student at Evonik's Brainpool
Kerim's journey started with an internship in our so-called Brainpool. He worked on identifying and researching future technology topics. The end of his internship didn’t mean the end of his career at Evonik. Find out more in his blog entry.
My name is Kerim. I am 24 years old and studying industrial engineering for my Bachelor’s degree with a focus on mechanical engineering. As part of my studies, I had to complete a mandatory internship. While looking for suitable job advertisements I came across Evonik and decided to apply – and I got the position!
I completed my three-month internship from September to November 2021 in the department of Commercial Interface & Development, which is a support function of the Technical Service business line. The department includes a group called the Brainpool. The Brainpool is an interdisciplinary and international pool of interns that welcomes more than 15 interns every year. Working in the Brainpool as an intern is a good place to start at the company because you get to know Evonik from the ground up and you are fully involved in the projects. The Brainpool office is managed paperlessly and everything is stored digitally, so the transfer of knowledge between the generations is guaranteed. Our tasks include identifying, scouting and researching future technology topics and trends. We also generate creative concepts.
During this internship I was able to gather my first real professional experience. It was important for me to get off to a good start because I saw it as a basic building block for my future and I wanted to leave a lasting positive impression.
The highlight of my time as an intern was the Instagram takeover. The takeover can be found on the “evonikofficial” account under the highlights, “Takeover: TS.”
I draw nothing but positive conclusions from my internship – the way of working as well as the communication with colleagues and partners made it special.
Because of this valuable experience, I wanted to stay at the company after the internship ended. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a job opportunity immediately because there wasn’t a suitable vacancy close to where I live. But luckily the TS department contacted me in mid-December to tell me they had found a way to offer me a position as a working student. That showed me I am very valued. Even during my absence, they cared about finding me a suitable position. In my early career at Evonik, that was the best experience I have had!
Now, since February 2022, I have been back in the Brainpool as a working student. Because of the skillset and knowledge I built during my internship and the great onboarding, I am gaining more and more responsibility by working on smaller projects independently.
My personal goal is to obtain my Bachelor’s degree, then my Master’s degree, and thus be able to work at Evonik for many more years!
I would recommend an internship in the Brainpool to everyone who wants to be involved in a wide variety of tasks and likes to take on responsibility!
Best regards,
Kerim Can
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On the students@Evonik blog, students, who work at Evonik, share their experiences about life and work in the company.