Tessa Schulte at Lufthansa Cargo AG in Paris, France

Acquisition of the internship

Before going to France’s capital for studying for one semester at our Partner University I had already applied for the internship in the Marketing and Communication department at Lufthansa Cargo in Paris. My first intention was to work there for about three months but the manager of the department offered me to join the team for six months. It meant I couldn’t participate in the winter courses at university but I decided to take the chance to gather professional experiences in a foreign country, to get an idea of the French working life and to intensify my French language skills.

My boss was responsible for the marketing and communication activities for France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Promotions, media-events, customer- and press-communications, adaptation of global and creation of local campaigns etc. were planned and run by the department. I was in charge of different projects either for the whole region or a certain country and supported the management in their daily-work as well as in special projects. I had close contact to colleagues in the five countries, the marketing team in Lufthansa Cargo’s headquarter in Germany and worked with agencies and local journalists.

One week before leaving Paris I got informed about an internship place at Lufthansa Cargo in Madrid. Having still time till the beginning of the summer semester at university I applied for that job and started my work in Spain’s capital two weeks after leaving France. I was responsible for the project “Industry approach in Spain and Portugal” which was placed in the strategic department and supported the local team.

Leonardo-programme

I have got the first information about the Leonardo-programme in an intercultural-skill-course at university. I asked my professor for detailed information and applied for a scholarship. Leonardo sponsored my internship in France – unfortunately it isn’t possible to apply twice.

Professional and personal profit

It was quite interesting and challenging to work in an international and cross-cultural surrounding. I didn’t do any work without thinking of cultural differences, because the success of a campaign, a promotion, press releases, events depends on the language correctness and on the awareness and adaptation of small tricky cultural differences. And there are many of them!

During my internship I learnt a lot but could also benefit from my theoretical knowledge. I like communicating in a foreign-language even if it makes things more complicated. I have got to know two different cultures and people from other countries. And I learnt: I will work in an international surrounding. Working abroad is more than just a job. It demands basic professional qualifications, foreign-language skills, social commitment and above all a high flexibility.

The social environment

The property market in Paris is characterized by extremely high prizes. After finishing my courses at Paris University I stayed in the international foyer in the centre of Paris. Although I shared my room with another person and it took my 80 minutes to get work (because the office was at the airport Charles de Gaulles) I didn’t want to move to another place. I liked living in an international surrounding and was quite glad that my Spanish colleagues organised a room in a nice apartment with mates from Switzerland, England and Spain.