Interning at a Sustainable Start-Up in Berlin
My name is Chloe and I go to school at Indiana University. I studied this past spring in Berlin and got to take a wide variety of classes, explore the city, and take part in an internship. One of the reasons I chose CIEE was because of the internship component. I had never interned for a company before and I thought working abroad would be an exciting experience. I'm a Supply Chain Management and Sustainable Business co-major, so I was hoping to get placed in an internship that would provide relevant work experience.
The placement process for my internship was relatively easy. I met with a member of the CIEE staff to figure out internship placement. We discussed my major and interests and what type of industry I wanted to work in. The staff was super helpful and reached out to different contacts to find get me an interview. I ended up interviewing and accepting a position at Era Zero Waste as an operations intern. Era Zero Waste is a start-up that offers sustainable grocery delivery. This was a perfect match for me since I was getting experience in operations and got to help a sustainable company.
Since Era Zero Waste was a start-up, they didn't have a permanent office space. My boss was flexible with the days and time I worked, which was great. We scheduled to work Tuesday through Thursday, with Wednesdays being remote. On the days we worked together, we would go into The Factory Berlin, which was a workspace for start-ups or the storage facility. The Factory had lots of workspaces, private rooms, a cafeteria, and a room with beds and ball pits and other games. It was nice to have a change in scenary and get exposed to such a cool, modern work environment. On Thursdays we would go into the storage facility and help pack the orders for the week.
Reflecting on my internship I felt like I truly learned a lot about operations and sharpened my soft skills. Working in a foreign country can be difficult at times because of the different social norms and culture. A lot of Germans are very straightforward, which is something that I wasn't used to. It was a little hard at first because they didn't sugarcoat anything. If they didn't like something you were doing, they would let you know. Eventually I found that style of communication to be helpful, because I knew exactly what to do and how to improve. Exposure to such a different work environment really helped me improve my communication and time-management skills. I felt like I had a very valuable experience that helped me become more prepared for my future career. This experience taught me so much and helped me realize my aspiration to work for a company that would allow me to travel and work internationally.
Related Posts
"Running as a lifestyle", Andrea Adam Moore, CIEE Center Director
Andrea Adam Moore is the Director of the CIEE Center in Berlin. She is one of the real "berliners" of the team, but also very connected to USA, after living... keep reading
Postcard from Abroad: Learning to Leave My Bubble in Berlin, Germany
By Vincent DiFonzo Almost every time I ride on Berlin’s metro system, the U-Bahn, I am reminded of one of the many little quirks of living in Germany—the German stare... keep reading
Kate Miller, Open Campus Student: “I have had a life changing experience during my time here”.
Kate Miller is one of our Open Campus students of this Fall Semester 2023. She has been studying and doing her internship at a local startup called Tuesday Coworking, environmentally-conscientious... keep reading