Paula - An internship at Market Intelligence in Sao Paulo

My name is Paula, I’m 22 years old and I am currently  finishing my 4th year at University Center of Faculty of Industrial Engineering (FEI) in Sao Paulo, where I’m majoring in Chemical Engineering.   

I am a market intelligence intern in the High Performance Polymers business line of Evonik, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of the team and help with market researches that can evolve the business development, as well as support the customer service and sales team with clients contact.  

When I finished my high school degree, I knew that I wanted to find a college with a chemical focus, because especially the laboratory field always fascinated me. Since I was still trying to figure out which studies fit best with my interests, I decided on taking a year of lessons at a preparatory school. After researching and getting to know more about engineering and its possibilities, I was finally ready to take my decision.  

During my 3rd year in college, when I was already studying from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to apply for two college groups: the Entrepreneurship League and the Academic Center of Chemical Engineering. In the meanwhile, while searching chemical companies and its opportunities, I got to know Evonik. It seemed like a great place to start my professional career, so when the opportunity appeared to work on the market intelligence area of a company that is well known in the chemical market, hesitation was not an option!  

I imagined that starting my first job experience on a working from home set-up, due to the pandemic, would be a challenge. And it really was! Luckily since the beginning, not only the team that I am part of, but all people that I got in contact with, were very helpful and contributed to my joining, giving all the support that was needed. Even not having the office experience yet, I am learning every day about the business world, how it works and the dynamics of it.   

Working as a market intelligence intern has been a great challenge, and after 8 months I can easily say that I learned a lot, not only in the market searches side, developing new abilities with different tools to help the research team, but also on the collaborative side, with business skills and understandings. One point as well is the opportunity to create a closer relationship with the customers by supporting the Customer Service and Sales team in their activities.  

An important aspect that I believe is very strong at Evonik and got my attention during the first days of my internship is the possibility to interact with people all around the world, with international meetings and updates. That´s why I was so interested in the students@Evonik initiative, with meetings like Coffee Talks and Casual Networking that give us the chance to really connect with students from different countries. It is a very important opportunity to exchange experiences, grow your network, and have an overview of the business not only around the team in your country, but with a general view.  

I am honored to be part of this team and to work for a company that supports personal and professional development of its employees, focusing not only on the chemical field but the human as well. My experience has been unique and for sure very important for my future and development in the corporative life. I am looking forward to growing even more every day with the Evonik team and continuing as a part of this team that leads beyond chemistry.  

I would like to leave a special thank you for my leader and coworkers that helped me in this new experience at Evonik so far and supported me with everything needed! 

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