Mariella: Semester Break in a Global Corporation

Unforgettable semester break in a global corporation - Mariella at Marketing & Sales Excellence

Hey, my name is Mariella, and I am studying Multimedia Communication and Documentation at the Technical University in Aschaffenburg in my last semester. 

My path to Evonik started out a bit bumpy: In the fifth semester of my degree program, an internship semester is planned. That means that students don't go to university for a semester, but instead look for a company where they can do an internship for a semester. I had already applied for the Marketing & Sales Excellence (MSE) department at Evonik at the time, because I already knew the company through some friends who work there and the tasks sounded exciting. Unfortunately, I didn't get an internship back then. 

Some time later, during my internship semester, I surprisingly got a phone call offering me the opportunity to do an internship at Evonik at a later date, as my degree program fitted in very well with the tasks at MSE. So I completed my internship semester with a fixed plan to re-enlist at Evonik afterwards. 

But it all turned out a little differently: The Corona pandemic that has been raging since the beginning of March 2020 made me feel insecure and I thought, "Who has the time and inclination to look after an intern in a global pandemic? That's why I decided not to get in touch for the time being and to wait and see.  A while passed and the pandemic got worse and worse instead of better so I thought - just give it a try. They can't say more than no.  And indeed - not even two months later I was already sitting in the office at Marketing & Sales Excellence. 

From now on, the next two months were spent helping to develop a communication concept. In addition to this task, I was given the opportunity to get to know the company in general and MSE in more detail, to deepen my marketing knowledge by participating in virtual courses at the Evonik School of Marketing, to set up a video room for MSE, to create various "How To's" and videos, and much more. 

As suddenly as my internship began, it is unfortunately already over. Despite the somewhat empty offices due to the Corona pandemic, I had the opportunity to meet many very nice colleagues who helped me with all my questions.

Apart from deepening my knowledge in some areas, super funny team meetings with snoring dogs in the background, lots of sweets, the search for an empty office, and the everyday life in a global corporation are just a few things that I'm taking home from my internship at Evonik and will remember. 

I am very happy that I had the opportunity to make this experience and would sacrifice my semester break for an internship at Evonik any time again!