A Triad of Academic studies, SOM and Working Student Activities

A Triad of Academic studies, SOM and Working Student Activities

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Hello, 

I am Anna and am studying business administration at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Muenster in my 7th semester. There, an annual economic congress takes place in the Münster castle of the symposium Oeconomicum Muenster, which I attended for the first time during my third semester. I enjoyed this business congress organized by students for students so much that I wanted to become a part of this team. At that time, I already knew a little about the world of university, was able to estimate how much time and effort it would take for the exams and wanted to do something else besides my studies. I am now in my second year as a member of the SOM and I would like to tell you more about my work at the SOM and at Evonik. 

The Symposium Oeconomicum Muenster takes place every year (usually in May) on a specific main topic. The congress starts early in the morning and, throughout the day, students can look forward to interesting lectures, as well as, a kind of contact fair with various companies such as Evonik. There is also always a party afterwards. Each SOM participant chooses a topic area in which, in addition to the main lectures, other lectures are held in smaller groups. These topics consist of two blocks, each with two lecture slots for one main topic. In the first year, I organized the topic "Personnel" together with a fellow student. Our main task was to work out the topic, to acquire speakers and the organization. For the upcoming SOM in May 2019, I will be a member of the Finance team. It is quite common to change positions when you are in your second year and I have decided on the acquisition of sponsors. The task of us "financiers" is to find new sponsors and to be contact persons for existing sponsors such as Evonik.

I came to know Evonik first and foremost through the SOM since Evonik is very present as a long-standing partner. On the one hand, through a very exciting booth, often containing a creative activity, and on the other hand, through Evonik employees. In their role as speakers, they provide insights into corporate practice, provide information regarding the respective congress topic to the participants or are available for discussions during the congress. In addition, a friend from the SOM was a working student at Evonik, which gave me a deeper insight into the work. My first personal contact with Evonik was during my interview for a working student position in human resources.

Things worked out so well that I was a working student at Evonik for the next six months. Right from the start, I enjoyed the working atmosphere in the company very much. It was not just the interaction with my colleagues that left a positive impression on me, but also what Evonik wants to make possible for its employees, from sports programs to flexible working hours. I felt very comfortable as a working student, and a special highlight for me will always be the open air screening of the German soccer team during the World Cup. Although it was a shame that Germany lost, the evening was still a lot of fun because we were all together! All in all, I had an exciting and inspiring time at Evonik.

This is actually my last year at the SOM. Thanks to this network I was able to learn and discover a lot. I am looking forward to the next symposium, which will take place on May 22, 2019, and, as every year, I am, of course, looking forward to Evonik's participation. Therefore, I recommend to everyone to take a look at and participate in such a congress similar to ours or also in another network. Because of my activities at the SOM and my close contact with Evonik, I can easily imagine working for Evonik during my Master’s degree or afterwards again.

I hope I was able to give you an insight into the SOM and the cooperation with Evonik and I would be happy to meet you at the SOM. 

See you soon, 
your Anna

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