10/12/2014
Interview of the month - As an intern at Voith Paper
Dennis Johannsen is Bachelor-student in business administration at TU Flensburg. In today's interview he talks about his internship at the Controlling department of Voith Paper and his experiences at Voith.
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- Zur Großansicht
I have studied business administration at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, focusing on Controlling. I am about to complete y Bachelor's degree, all that needs to be done is to defend my Bachelor's dissertation in front of the university colloquium.
What kind of internship did you attend and in which company?
I have been taking an internship at Voith Paper in the Controlling Department.
What is the reason for your internship?
A practical traineeship war obligatory as part of my studies. What I found super was that Voith allowed me to write my Bachelor's dissertation directly at the company.
How did you come across the trainee placement?
I was mainly looking at online job exchanges and restricted my search to the wider Munich and Stuttgart area, because I wanted to get to know the south of Germany.
Why did you decide for this company and this position/this area?
I felt really comfortable with the contact at Voith during my job interview, and I could sense from our conversation that the chemistry was right and that the internship would be demanding. My interview partners and, later on, mentors were able to show me in detail what was expected of me during the traineeship.
Tell us about your tasks and responsibilities. My duties included the compilation and conception of reports, performing evaluations and analyses with Excel, VBA and IBM Cognos TM. I was also the contact for actual and budget reporting and I checked these reports for plausibility and accuracy. Apart from tasks such as optimizing the internal management information system as well as accompanying and further developing the Voith apps I also contributed to the annual planning horizon and supported the international Controller pool with my work.
How closely related are your current activities to what you have studied?
Since Controlling was my main subject at university, I knew, for example, how to calculate and interpret key figures. I was familiar with many technical terms and there was no need for me to be specially trained.
Does the internship meet your expectations?
Yes, my expectations were even exceeded. For example, I though initially that I was quite good at Excel, but the internship has definitely deepened my knowledge. I was also allowed to complete many tasks on my own and thus gained a great deal of independence.
How did the application and recruitment process go?
I applied online on the Voith careers page and was then invited for a telephone interview. It only took two weeks until I was accepted.
Do you get paid for your internship?
Yes.
Have you had any other internships before?
No, this is my first internship. I already completed an apprenticeship prior to my studies and was thus able to gain practical experience.
Would you also consider a traineeship abroad?
During my apprenticeship I worked in Slovakia for six weeks and learned a lot. Not just as far as language is concerned, but also in terms of interacting with people from other culture, which is definitely a worthwhile experience. I would recommend it to anybody.
Are you planning any other internships?
As I am about to finish my studies and since Voith has offered me a permanent position, this is probably my last internship.
