Interning in Germany
Germnay loves to host American interns, yet not many interns go to Germany. Johanna Lee, a writer for bootsnall.com, shares tips about interning in Germnay in her article; Tips for Interning in Germany.
“My senior year in college, I thought an internship in Germany was impossible. After five quarters of German, my grammar still made my sentences incomprehensible to my classmates and I assumed that was the most basic requirement to landing an internship in Germany. Therefore, I put aside my application to CDS International and went to London instead. One year later, I dug out the CDS application and contacted the office. Timing and luck was on my side and I landed an internship by German standards in a matter of days, but wasn’t actually confirmed till two months later. The usual time frame takes about five to six months. My German skills none the better since my senior year, I was flying to Cologne as the new American intern for a one year internship with an exchange organization that facilitated the administration necessary, ironically enough, for other Americans interning in Germany. The position enabled me to get a good overview of the German internship market for Americans from which the following tips were learned.
Some things that hold true for the American job market also translates into the German internship market. The easiest major to place into internships are engineers, whether they be civil, mechanical, electrical, aerospace, chemical, all are wanted and welcomed. If you majored in engineering another advantage is that your German skills can be almost non-existent, although it’s recommended that you have some, but it’s hardly an issue. If all this wasn’t enough, you’ll find yourself working for highly recognized German companies such as Siemens or BMW and you’ll be getting paid twice as much as your friend in other fields. If you majored in business, social sciences or humanities, then speaking some form of German at some level will be more crucial to landing a good internship.
