Gaining new impressions instead of just ECTS
Internships and student positions at three major car manufacturers and a global market leader, plus stays abroad in the USA and China and direct job entry despite the difficult economic situation - Hüseyin tells his wiwi.story.
"Let's start from the beginning," Hüseyin begins the interview. He is 25 years old and comes from Harsewinkel, a town in the district of Gütersloh (which is now very well known). The wide range of development opportunities in business appealed to him, so he decided to study economics in Paderborn in 2013. "Here, I was able to take courses from the profiling phase as early as the third semester. At other universities, I would have had compulsory modules for the first four semesters." And so he stayed in the region, with family and friends. Hüseyin also didn't have far to travel for his first internship at CLAAS, one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery with headquarters in his home town of Harsewinkel.
From San Francisco via Stuttgart back to Paderborn
But he did travel far. He spent the fifth semester of his bachelor's degree at California State University in the USA as a freemover. There he took part in an International Business Diploma program and spent his free time exploring foggy San Francisco on the cable car, crossing over to the famous prison island of Alcatraz and watching the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge.
After completing his bachelor's degree, Hüseyin took six months to do an internship at car manufacturer Daimler to gain further practical experience. It was clear to him that he still wanted to do his Master's degree, only the where was not clear. During his internship, the Asian market and its relevance were a recurring theme, which is why Hüseyin was looking for a university that advertised an Asian focus and offered international programs accordingly. While searching for a suitable university, he realized that he had already studied at just such a university: Paderborn University. "It was only then that I realized what opportunities were available here."
From Paderborn to the Middle Kingdom
Hüseyin opted for the Master's degree course in International Economics and Management (IEM) with an international focus. His participation in the ASBE program gave him an additional focus on Asia. He spent his first two Master's semesters at Paderborn University before completing a four-week intensive language course at Ruhr University Bochum before starting his semester abroad in China in September 2018. There he studied at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Paderborn's partner university in the Chinese capital, and lived in student accommodation.
Hüseyin had already taken the "Business Practices in China" course to "get a taste" of the semester abroad, during which he spent six days in Shanghai and four days in the Wuhan region visiting companies and universities. "Wuhan has since gained dubious fame due to the coronavirus. The visit was always mentioned in my job interviews."
Reunion in Beijing
One of the moments from his time in China that particularly stuck in his mind was the reunion with a professor at BIT. Hüseyin had met him on the Bachelor's course "International Management: Focus on China" at Paderborn University, where he had been a visiting professor for two weeks. "That was totally crazy. You often meet up again in Paderborn, but Beijing is a whole different ball game. And although our meeting was a year and a half ago, he even recognized me!" Paderborn is one of his favorite cities in Germany and he even prefers it to cities like Munich. "It's so nice and quiet, very different from hectic Beijing."
Through 7 countries in 32 days
Hüseyin must have been infected by the pace of the Chinese capital, because after his time there, he traveled to Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand within 32 days. "I still had a month to spare, the flights were cheap and I wanted to see as much as possible."
During the first semester of his Master's degree, Hüseyin had accepted a student trainee position at DMG Mori, the world's leading manufacturer of machine tools, in Bielefeld, which he then finished before his stay in China. At the time, his boss had told him to keep DMG Mori in mind when looking for a job. "But I wanted to see something different and get to know another new company."
It wasn't quite so new after all: he went to Stuttgart for six months to work for a car manufacturer - only this time for Porsche. However, an interesting topic for the Master's thesis presented itself at another car manufacturer: VW in Wolfsburg.
Starting a job despite corona
A few months before graduating, Hüseyin started looking for jobs. A difficult time given the economic situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He submitted his Master's thesis in the field of digital support concepts at the exact time of the lockdown - the conditions for starting a career could have been better.
"I really enjoyed working at DMG Mori as a student trainee, so I looked for a vacancy on DMG's job locator - at exactly the right time." It was even in his old department. Hüseyin applied straight away, impressed during the application process and was offered the job.
The decision to work at DMG Mori was easy for him, even though he had had other options. "We were offered the best development opportunities there. I had been able to see the good working atmosphere for myself and the proximity to family and friends was important to me." Since 1 April 2020, Hüseyin has been a trainee in process management, supporting service systems and driving the digitalization project in service management.
Gaining experience and networking in OWL
Hüseyin doesn't care that he didn't complete his degree in the standard period of study. "I think it's much more important that my studies don't just take place at my desk. To broaden your horizons and open yourself up to new things, I recommend everyone to spend a semester abroad or take a break for an internship." Such experiences shape your own way of thinking, strengthen your soft skills and form the foundation for the professional world. In Hüseyin's opinion, good grades are not everything and practical experience is a clear recruitment factor. "Of course, it's best to have both."
You also make contacts that - as in Hüseyin's case - can be worth their weight in gold. In his view, the OWL region is a particularly good place to expand a network: "There are so many 'hidden champions' in the area. Large companies, some of which are world market leaders in their field and, of course, well-known international companies." For students at Paderborn University, this is a great locational advantage for gaining practical experience. "Large companies such as Benteler and Diebold Nixdorf are on site. And within 45 minutes you can reach many attractive employers such as CLAAS, Miele, Bertelsmann, Schüco, Dr. Oetker - or my employer DMG Mori. It's ideal for a working student position or an internship."
Stay strong!
Hüseyin is keen to tell first-year students that it can be difficult in the first few semesters, but that you shouldn't let setbacks get you down. "Even if things don't go so well in between and your motivation wanes, you can still graduate and get a cool job."
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More Information
- on the cooperation network in the field of economics
- on the Asian Studies in Business and Economics Program (ASBE)
