From Crisis to Opportunity: COVID-19 and my Internship

Due to COVID 19, many opportunities and activities are limited, also for students. What’s worse is, because of the economic depression around the world, it has been hard to find job positions. I was planning on going to Germany as an exchange student but I had to postpone that plan. But I tried to think positively and decided to apply for an internship program. If it were not for the pandemic, I wouldn’t have had a chance to gain valuable work experience at TÜV Rheinland. It was the turning point of my life where I turned crisis into opportunity.

I’ve always had an interest in jobs where English and German were spoken. Therefore I started to look for internship programs where I would need foreign languages. While looking through the programs that my university was offering, I found a German company called TÜV Rheinland (The “Ü” in TÜV made me recognize that immediately) and the qualification needed for the position was speaking fluent English! I was confident that the position was suited for me.

My dad had majored in marketing and sparked my interest in finding out what the world of marketing really looks like. I didn’t major in business administration but I was naturally curious about that field. I wanted to learn what the marketing & communication departments in a company really do, so I applied for an internship in the Marketing & Communication Department.

First intern experience in a global company

TÜV Rheinland Korea was my first intern experience working in a global company, and I loved the working environment here. The offices were amazing and the work system wowed me.

Flexible working hours and being able to work from home were among the best parts. I was able to focus on work rather than worrying if I’ll be late in the morning.

During my internship program, the COVID-19 situation was severe in Korea, but the home office system twice a week reduced my anxiety. Since it is a German company, our CEO was also a German. The opportunities to talk in German with our CEO were very honourable moments.

The importance of the Marketing & Communication Department

Two months were not enough to experience all of the work and procedures but I gained valuable insight into the importance of the role of marketing & communication in a company. My tasks were to translate the services of the global homepage from English to Korean. The TIC industry was new to me but during my translations, I was able to get to know the value chain of the business and which business field plays an important role in the future. Other than translation, I wrote articles and news for a blog update, and collected news of TÜV Rheinland Korea and its competitors. So I saw that the work of the marketing and communications department is indispensable for a company.

2021 Summer Interns (from left): Ji-Yeong Yoo(HR), Hee-Rim Hwang(M&C), Ji-Min Cho(Medical)(bottom), Su-Yeong Yu(Functional Safety), Won-Sik Park(Central Lab), Won-Yeong Jang(Central Lab), and Jae-Hyun Lee(Rail)

Unforgettable memories with other interns

TÜV Rheinland Korea has a systematic internship program, including two presentations: one individual presentation about my department and my work, the other was a group presentation with other interns to propose business-ideas in front of our CEO and managers. All interns are assigned to different departments, therefore without those meetings, we wouldn’t have had many chances to talk to each other. Thanks to the group project, I was able to make many friends and we wished the best for each other’s future.

My intern life in TÜV Rheinland Korea was wonderful and memorable. Not only because I got to learn about communication and marketing but also because I learned about the certification process, which actually made me take a closer look at certification marks on products here in Korea. I was super lucky and I thank everyone who I had the pleasure to meet and everyone who helped me at TÜV Rheinland Korea.

Leaving my perfect TÜV Rheinland Korea intern life behind, I’m planning on spending my last semester in Germany as an exchange student. I would like to visit the TÜV Rheinland Headquarter in Cologne and during my time there, I’ll try my best to find the famous TÜV Rheinland certification mark on every product.