International

As part of my bachelor's thesis, I took the opportunity to be on site at a foreign subsidiary of my practice partner. I wrote my bachelor's thesis at Bauerfeind Ibérica, a subsidiary of Bauerfeind AG, from April to June 2024. The topic was the local market development of a specific product range. During these three months, I was able to gain valuable insights into the marketing department and sales of the Spanish subsidiary. It was particularly exciting to learn about the differences between the Spanish and German markets. The funding from the Erasmus program enabled me to receive financial support. Overall, the internship abroad was a very enriching experience, both professionally and personally.
I worked on my thesis, made friends and of course improved my Spanish skills.

Our semester abroad at the partner university "EKLYA School of Business" in Lyon is an eventful and instructive experience that we would not want to miss and can highly recommend to anyone interested. In addition to the specialized modules such as "Digital Aspects in International Development Strategies", "European Project Management", French Basics and History, we get to know the local region and culture.

The interaction with other international students is great. EKLYA School of Business organizes excursions to famous sights, restaurants and group activities such as an international lunch. All Erasmus students and local students from France brought a typical dish from their home country to enjoy together.

All in all, our semester abroad is a successful mix of exciting seminars and numerous cultural experiences.

I studied Health and Social Management at the University of Cooperative Education in Plauen from 2018 to 2021. I then decided to do a Master's degree, during which I really wanted to spend a semester abroad in the USA.

My former lecturers supported me in this endeavor by providing me with letters of recommendation, which I needed for my applications to American universities.

I can only recommend anyone to take the opportunity to spend a semester abroad and make new friends, gain experience and improve their language skills.

My semester in Lyon was one of the best experiences I could have had. At the EKLYA - School of Business, I was able to expand my knowledge, especially in the field of international business.

Above all, however, I enjoyed the atmosphere - getting to know lots of new and international students, exploring Lyon as a beautiful student city and having the opportunity to take short trips to Paris, Geneva or Annecy at the weekends, for example.

In the end, the 3 months went by far too quickly and no one should miss out on this opportunity!

As part of the participation of our practice partner GK Software SE in an EU research project, we were given the opportunity to spend part of our practical phase in Modena. During this time, we worked on the tasks in the "Virtual Factories" project. The project is about the further development and research of virtual factories and Industry 4.0. We were responsible for the external project communication tasks. We created a fact sheet, a brochure, presentations etc. that can be used for PR and advertising purposes.

Modena is famous as the home of balsamic vinegar and as the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari. The narrow streets, colorful houses, shutters and numerous cafés exude typical Italian charm. We also had the opportunity to explore the country and some of the sights. Our excursions took us to Bologna, Florence, Rome, Milan and Venice.  Spending part of the practical phase in Italy made the internship semester something very special.

I completed the fifth practical semester (Oct. - Dec. 2018) of my dual study program at the automotive supplier GeNI de México S.A. de C.V., a production facility of the international group GEDIA with headquarters in Germany. For the next two months, I was able to work in the quality department and gain new experience of the working world in Mexico. During this time, the recertification of the international NORM IATF 16949 took place. This standard combines existing general requirements for quality management systems in the automotive industry. My task was to prepare the management report with all the necessary key figures for the respective departments. This gave me an insight into each department and the associated processes. In my opinion, the quality department is one of the most important departments in a company. The satisfaction of the most important resource, the customer, is based on the quality of a product. During my time in Mexico, I was able to gain a lot of experience about the processes of an international automotive supplier. I was also able to get to know the Latin American culture, which is very different from that in this country. Despite the big differences, I felt very comfortable from day one. Mexicans are very open-hearted and hard-working. 

I spent most of my third practical phase at the Swedish sales branch "Meiser Sweden AB" in Sundsvall. Sundsvall is located in the middle of Sweden, directly on the Baltic Sea coast, about 400 km north of Stockholm. The aim of my stay was to apply and deepen the practical and theoretical knowledge I had acquired, as well as my language skills.

The practical work from the previous semester, which dealt with order negotiations with Swedish customers and the Swedish branch, formed a good basis for this. It was very interesting to experience the differences in working methods, as well as the different local customers and the cooperation with them. The biggest benefit for me personally was the constant communication in English, both during and after work. Even if it was a minor benefit, it was nice to experience the pre-Christmas period and the traditions associated with it. All in all, I can look back on a wonderful, instructive, albeit very cold time. I am delighted that my practice partner, Meiser Vogtland OHG, offered me such an opportunity for an international exchange.