Experiences of interns at WEICON

Fostering our apprentices and recruiting qualified employees play an important role at WEICON. That is why being present at job fairs is essential. This year, students could win an internship at WEICON. Some of the wins have already been redeemed.
Not only our apprentices have independent projects, our interns take an active part in the work processes right from the start, too. Marthe and Sarah tell us what that actually means.

I am Sarah Jönsthövel, I go to a local high school (Gymnasium Laurentianum in Warendorf) and will be in year 12 after the school holidays. My holidays started with a one-week internship at WEICON. I won the internship at the Career Orientation Fair (BOM) in Warendorf. I initially only visited the booth in order to get some flyers and info material. As I want to start writing applications soon, I was looking for interesting companies at the Career Orientation Fair. At the WEICON booth, I was then asked if I wanted to take a turn spinning the prize wheel. When I did, I won the first prize: an internship. That was a big surprise!

I left my contact details and was contacted a few days later. After my call, we specified the exact times. I could choose myself how long the internship was going to be and when I wanted to do it. From then on, I started to look forward to the new experience a little more each day.

On Monday, July 16th 2018 at 08:30am, I started my first day. I was hoping for an interesting and exciting week ahead of me. After I had registered in the head office, I was given a brief tour of the premises and my schedule for the week.

I spent the first morning in the head office. First, we sorted all emails which had accumulated over the weekend and sent them to the respective person in charge in order to ensure a quick and competent response. In the head office, calls are also being answered and passed on. Friendly and fast responses are very important there, too.

In the afternoon, I went on to the purchase department. There, I was introduced to the tasks of this department. Then it was my turn and I was able to write order proposals myself. I had help, of course, as you cannot learn to do everything on your own in such a short period of time. In the meantime, the department had a training course on the updated and modernised operation program. I also took part in the training, which helped me to handle the program better afterwards. After I was done with the order proposals, we released invoices. We had to compare the invoices to the delivery notes and the computer. If everything was correct, we could pass the invoices on to the accounting department. Then my first day was already over. I had really enjoyed it and was already looking forward to the next day.

Tuesday, I was working in application engineering and in product management. After the tasks of the department had been explained to me, I was allowed to bond demonstration models. Different products were shown to me and how to use them. First, we had to clean all components, before we started to bond them. We did the bonding collaboratively. I applied the adhesive and Matthias, who works in application engineering, pressed the components together. While the adhesive cured, Matthias showed me different examples of adhesive bonds in the company buidlings and on the premises. It is surprising in how many ways adhesives are used!

On Wednesday morning, I moved on to the sales department. There, we added interview transcripts of the field service employees to the operation system. As I was working with Vivian that morning, who does an apprenticeship herself, she could answer me many questions about the apprenticeship at WEICON. We also sorted invoices. Right before lunch break, we had an English lesson. Not only the apprentices have an English lesson once a week, but other employees can also take one lesson per week during their regular working hours.

On Wednesday afternoon, I worked at the warehouse in order to get to know the different products better. For example, I stuck on labels and put together packaging materials. Then I packed boxes with different pieces.

On Thursday morning, I went on to the branch support. After the eight different branches had been presented to me, we had a video call with the managing director of the Turkish branch. Afterwards, we went to the warehouse and took a look at different products.

The afternoon, I spent in the export department. I liked it a lot, as you can really use your language skills there. I speak three languages myself, so I found it very interesting to see emails from representatives in different countries. When you are in touch with people in different countries regularly, you are very well-practiced in the respective foreign language after a while. After my day there had come to an end, I was very excited about Friday, my last working day for the moment.

I spent Friday morning in the advertising department. There, I was given an insight into different photo- and text-editing programs. I was allowed to edit a photo myself, which was great. It was a picture which had slight pixelation towards the edges, which I was allowed to touch up.

Then, I had a concluding conversation about the internship, during which I was also asked to give feedback. In addition, every colleague I worked with during the week had completed a short evaluation, so I also received some feedback on my work during the internship.

My final station was the PR department. There, the social media concept was explained to me, for example, and I gained some insight into what you need to consider in PR work.

In conclusion, I can say that I was extremely happy to have won and done this internship. When I set foot into the company on my first day, I knew immediately that I wanted to stay. Everyone always welcomed me in a very friendly way and answered all my questions. I was always taken seriously and asked to give my opinion. I was allowed to work independently a lot and given the feeling that I was being trusted.

After this exciting week, on the last day of my internship, I handed in my application for an apprenticeship in industrial management in 2019. I would love to come here every day. Now I hope that I can do my apprenticeship at WEICON and get to see everyone again as soon as possible.

My name is Marthe, I am 17 years old and I am in year 11 at a local high school in Muenster.
For my student internship, I looked for an opportunity at an interesting company nearby.

I am not sure yet what I want to do after finishing high school. That is why I looked for a a company where I had the chance to get to know various fields of work. Due to some research and recommendations from my silblings and friends, I found WEICON.

My internship went on for two weeks, in total – two weeks during which I saw and learned a lot. After the first day, I already noticed that the work atmosphere in the company was very pleasant. During the first week, I rotated through many different departments and could gain many new impressions and experiences that way. I got to know many new people and fields of work, which gave me a more accurate insight into what happens “behind the scenes“ of a big company like WEICON and who is responsible for what. It was interesting to see that many fields of work were a lot more wide-ranging and varied than I had expected.

I spent my second week, except for half an exciting day in PR, working in the advertising department, which I really liked. I was allowed to work independently a lot, which I enjoyed very much. I learned a lot about using the Adobe programs like Photoshop or InDesign. I also got to know many nice colleagues and their day-to-day work. I had the chance to try out many things myself like designing my own logos or cutting video clips, for example. Because of my general interest in designing, marketing and also in languages, I found the fields of PR and advertising particularly exciting. In that regard, I also like the international presence of WEICON very much.

In conclusion, I can say that I am very happy with the choice of my internship and that my expectations were exceeded in all aspects. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to participate in the daily work routines so actively and independently. I can definitely recommend the internship at WEICON to anyone, as you are taken seriously there and supported throughout the whole time. Due to the many different fields of works and departments within the company, everyone can do what they are interested in and like the most.