Get a taste of practical experience - experience reports from the internship

Completing an internship of at least 200 hours is an important part of the Master's degree program in WBF/OE. On the one hand, the internship serves to apply acquired knowledge and skills in practice. On the other hand, the internship can help you to orientate yourself professionally. You can try things out and find out for yourself which activities you enjoy and which career paths you can imagine for your future. The internship is usually completed in the third semester. You will be supervised by us as part of the "Professional Practice" module and submit an internship report at the end.

Here, students tell us where they are completing their internship and what core tasks they are working on during their internship.

MIQR - Central German Institute for Qualification and Vocational Rehabilitation (Jonas Melde)

Student Jonas Melde completed his internship at MIQR and reports:

"As a case manager in the retraining sector, I am at the center of the action when it comes to accompanying people on their way to a successful professional future.

One of my main areas of responsibility is conducting support interviews to understand the individual needs, goals and challenges of each person. When participants find themselves in difficult (personal or family) situations, I am there to support them so that they can achieve their goals despite personal obstacles.

Individual support also includes personalized training to optimize CVs and cover letters. I also offer coaching for job interviews so that participants are well prepared and confident. As part of the retraining program, I research suitable internship partners, meet them at job fairs, acquire internships, manage contract processing and carry out evaluations. After participating in our measures, I offer career-oriented advice to make the transition into the world of work as smooth as possible.

In addition to individual support, another exciting aspect of my work is the implementation of teaching units on professional working techniques. Topics such as time management, learning strategies and stress management should not only be informative, but also practical, so that participants can apply the techniques they learn directly in their everyday lives.

It's a profession that requires diversity, empathy and a high degree of organization - and that's exactly what makes it so incredibly exciting and fulfilling."

Volkssolidarität in Chemnitz (Theresa Eckardt)

Student Theresa completed her internship at Volkssolidarität in Chemnitz and reports the following:

"In HR management at a charitable association that runs many elderly care facilities, among other things, one of my specific tasks is to establish exit interviews within the company. This process had not been actively pursued for a while and when some facilities suddenly saw very high numbers of redundancies, exit interviews came back into focus. I learned how important it is to have appropriate pay in geriatric care. But on the other hand, this is no guarantee of job satisfaction in an industry affected by a wide range of stresses. In the many conversations I have had so far, the great importance of appreciation, clear communication and, above all, leadership styles has become clear time and again. Even if the frustration was often great, I was still able to observe a great willingness to talk and the need to "get everything off my chest". I learned a lot about designing interview guidelines and formulating narrative-stimulating questions."

Internship at the Fach- und Koordinierungsstelle für die Arbeit mit Mädchen* und jungen Frauen* in Dresden e.V.

Ms. Freesemann completed an internship at the Fach- und Koordinierungsstelle für die Arbeit mit Mädchen* und jungen Frauen* in Dresden e.V.

"The Fach- und Koordinierungsstelle für die Arbeit mit Mädchen* und jungen Frauen* in Dresden e.V. works together with specialists from Dresden's child and youth welfare services to improve equal opportunities for girls* and young women*. With their many years of expertise as social education workers, the people responsible at the specialist center are active in a wide range of areas. These include the organization and implementation of specialist conferences and workshops, project development for pedagogical individuals, teams or organizations, networking, exchange and input in specialist political committees of the city of Dresden or public relations work, etc.

As a WBF/OE Master's student, I was able to support the department primarily in the organization and implementation of conferences and workshops. I was able to draw on my theoretical knowledge from my studies in the field of adult education and from seminars such as Teaching and Learning in Continuing Education. At the same time, the topic of gender-specific qualifications has given me many new, interesting and, above all, socially relevant topics and views. I am very grateful for the time and for the great team, who make an important contribution to the well-being of girls* and young women* in Saxony every day!"

Internship at OTTO GmbH & Co KG (Anna Godje Heimböckel)

Student Anna Godje Heimböckel is completing her internship at OTTO GmbH & Co KG and reports the following:

"The internship at OTTO was strongly characterized by working with digital tools. One of the main tasks was supporting and designing the training apps in SAP HCM. In weekly routines, the colleagues work in a cross-functional team together with programmers from the OTTO Group, who implement the technical requirements. The team works agile according to Scrum and is accompanied by a Business Service Owner. The central project during the internship was the design and implementation of a new feedback tool for trainees. This was developed in terms of content by the training team and then implemented in close coordination with the programmers."

Lufthansa Technik AG:

Another student is completing her 4th semester internship at Lufthansa Technik AG:

"Aspart of the "paperless office movement", employees are to receive their training documents on tablets in future and no longer in paper form. To this end, we worked on the conceptual development and preparation of the implementation for the digital provision of training documents. This entails a number of hurdles, such as the acceptance of the use of mobile devices in certain age groups, the technical design of the tablets and much more. As the person responsible for the project, a lot of organizational work had to be done in project management."

Novelis Deutschland GmbH (Vanessa Kleine):

Student Vanessa Kleine completed her internship at Novelis Deutschland GmbH at the Göttingen plant:

"During my internship at Novelis Deutschland GmbH, I was given the opportunity in the HR department to oversee the topic of training at the Göttingen plant. The focus was on recruiting new trainees for the coming apprenticeship year. Accordingly, my day-to-day tasks included reviewing application documents, coordinating and conducting interviews together with trainers and the works council as well as drawing up contracts through to recruitment. In coordination with the teams at the other locations, I was able to actively contribute my ideas for shaping the process and further develop existing process steps. I was also responsible for the planning, organization and implementation of workshops and regional job fairs. I am grateful for the trust placed in me, which allowed me to quickly take on a lot of responsibility, gain knowledge and a wide range of experience and grow personally."

School contact point TU Dresden (Jessica Gollmann):

Student Jessica Gollmann completed her internship at the TU Dresden School Contact Office and reports the following:

"The school contact office organizes, plans and carries out offers for study orientation for pupils:inside and schools. I am responsible for the organizational activities and the further development of the Early Studies project as well as for supporting the colleagues in other study orientation projects. Early Studies enables pupils from the 9th grade onwards to attend 1-2 courses at TU Dresden. In addition to supervising the application process, my tasks also include creating the semester plan for the project and evaluating it using a questionnaire. Thanks to the project management course and the research project in my degree program, I was able to combine theoretical and practical knowledge."