I worked in Vietnam at Training and Organizational Development for 1.5 years before going to Germany to pursue a master’s degree. That’s why, when I was looking for a working student position, I also sought opportunities in the HR department. The tricky thing is, almost all positions require German proficiency, and my German at that time was, you know, so-so. But I still applied and was invited to an interview at Bosch. I was so excited and wrote down every possible question, translated them into German, and learned them by heart.
When I arrived at the interview, all the questions were from my list, and I could answer them smoothly—until one question stumped me. The recruiter asked, and I responded with “Wie bitte?” The recruiter repeated the question, but I still had no clue. Eventually, she switched to English, and I realized my chance at a working student position at Bosch was slipping away because of my “Wie bitte?”
I often checked LinkedIn for working student positions and saw the position “Supply Chain and Reporting” multiple times. Initially, I disregarded it, thinking it wasn’t in HR, but as it kept appearing, I decided to take a closer look. Despite it being a supply chain role, all the tasks listed in the job description were ones I could perform.
I received an invitation to interview, and there were two interviewers, a male and a female. They were friendly, explaining the company and the position before the interview began. As I introduced myself, they asked detailed questions to gauge my experience with BPMN and whether I had used Jira. Luckily for me, my previous job didn’t involve Jira, but I had organized training sessions for software and test engineers, where I learned about Scrum. During these sessions, I asked engineers to show me how they used Jira for writing test cases and bug tracking.
At one point, one of the male interviewers asked if I could speak German. I replied, “Ein bisschen,” and he suggested we finish all technical questions first and then discuss in German. The interview became so engaging that we forgot about the German part until the female interviewer reminded us. Despite my inner panic, I managed to answer the basic German questions about my career direction.
After the interview, I sent a thank-you message and awaited a response. Upon consulting some German friends, I learned that typically, for working students, there’s only one round of interviews with the direct supervisor, so I expected to hear back soon. However, to my surprise, I received an email from HR inviting me for another round with the department head. I was both surprised and prepared for the interview.
My first impression of the interviewer was excellent; she created a psychologically safe environment for me. She mainly asked behavioral questions and ended by saying she’d heard positive feedback from the first interview and that they really liked me. However, she explained that they still had a few more students to interview and asked for my patience. I realized it was a competitive position, especially during the pandemic when job openings were limited. But I didn’t have to wait long; the next day, I received an email from the department head offering me the position. That news truly brightened my day!
Two lessons learned if you are also looking for a working student position:
- Sometimes, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a specific area. Explore different options; as a student, gaining experience is crucial.
- Be curious and continuously learn. If I hadn’t learned alongside the QA team, I wouldn’t have known about Scrum or Jira tools.
P.S.: I’m writing this post while waiting at the boarding gate. After publishing it, I’ll say hi to you from a different country.
