For ten months now, I’ve been working in the PR Department at WEICON as a working student. So far, so ordinary. However, for the most part of those ten months, I wasn’t actually at our office in Muenster – in fact, I wasn’t even in Germany. In this blog post, we’ll tell you how exactly that happened and what daily life as a remote working student at WEICON looks like.
My way to WEICON
Like for many students at a university, the share of purely theoretical learning in my communications studies eventually became too much for me. By the third semester, at the latest, I’ve had enough of hearing about theories on the development of language, the four-sides model (Schulze von Thun – does anyone remember?) and the extinction of newspapers. I wanted to finally dive into the real, hands-on working world, and – I’ll be honest – eat something other than pasta with pesto for a change. So, bring on the working student job! After gaining some work experience in the communications industry at an advertising agency, I joined the PR Department at WEICON in May 2021.
My stay abroad
Shortly before applying to WEICON, I had also taken part in a selection process for an ERASMUS scholarship of my university institute – without actually believing I had much of a chance to get it. One day after my interview at WEICON, however, I received an email saying: “Congratulations, you have been admitted to the University of Athens for the coming fall semester.”
So now, I had to decide between the new job and the semester abroad. At least that’s what I thought. When I explained my dilemma to the Managing Director Ann-Katrin, she immediately allayed all my concerns: After the first induction phase, it would be no problem to work completely remotely for a while.
After the trial day in the PR Department, it became clear pretty quickly that I could do both: My stay abroad and the new job! It couldn’t have turned out any better.
WEICON as an employer for students
I’d already realised during the job interview that the conditions for working students at WEICON are fantastic. The days and hours that you work can be scheduled flexibly from week to week in coordination with the respective department head, which makes it possible to adapt them to study timetables and exam periods. Every working student also has the opportunity to work a part of their hours from home. However, the fact that I was able do my work entirely from Greece and be a remote working student for six months in a row was really like hitting the jackpot for me.
Important: good technical equipment
Remote work means that you are doing your work from some other place, outside of the office. Which, of course, implies that certain technical requirements have to be met for this mobile form of working, so that communication and work processes run just as smoothly as they do at the office.
As a working student at WEICON, you will be just as well-equipped as all other employees in the office. First of all, you will have your own company laptop and, if necessary, a cell phone or iPad – so everything you need for your job. The file folders on the laptop can be accessed asynchronously from any wireless network via the company VPN. Since WEICON is a company with international branches, it has long been established that the daily communication with many colleagues happens mainly via Microsoft Teams.
Thanks to the excellent equipment provided by WEICON, you can basically work from anywhere in the world. Theoretically, at least.
“As a working student at WEICON, you will be just as well-equipped as all other employees in the office.”
Remote working student? These are the problems you may face in your remote day-to-day life
Unfortunately, the best technical equipment is useless if your internet connection is spotty. In my apartment in Athens, that was often the case, especially when my four roommates were also using the WiFi at the same time. In search of a better connection, I often worked at the university and in various libraries.
It was also sometimes a bit of a hassle to type a message for every little question you would usually sort out in a quick face-to-face chat at the office. But you get used to that pretty fast!
All in all, it was really exciting to work, study and travel like a “digital nomad” in another country for six months. An experience that I was lucky enough to make not least thanks to the opportunities offered by WEICON.
Are you interested in the topic of travel and work? Find out here what the everyday life of a business traveler at WEICON is like.
Of course, I have not spent all my time in Athens working! Check out here what else I’ve been up to in Athens and during my travels.
Written by guest author Lina Stoffer – working student public relations
