I was somehow successful in securing a „office job“ for my holidays. While I did have the delivery guy job in mind as a plan B, but I did put in quite a bit of efforts to try to work at a company that could make use of my skills.

I was heading a Marketing Team at a mid-size startup back in Mumbai, India. To make the dream of getting a job in Germany, that suited my skills, I wanted to try to get a student job during my studies which could add up to my profile. Makes sense, right?  My university exams ended in January and I was going to start my student job from February 5th, Monday. One of my focus was that I needed to be very efficient at my workplace and if I would match up to the expectations of a German work environment. Germany around the world has a very good reputation for very high quality of products. Would I be able to fulfil the related expectations?  I was going to work very closely with the CEO. I had met him in January and I really admired his deep listening skills and open mindedness. On my first day I received access to my official mail ID. However, the struggles started as soon as I opened my computer.

Okay. Windows was in German. Deep Breath. How to pass this test?

Step 1: Download Google Chrome. It has inbuilt translation software. Mozilla Firefox doesn’t work in this case.

Step 2: Google how to change the whole system settings to English. But not easy since the system is already in German. Somehow it worked out and I still have some things in German and keep shifting between a lot of menus in German and English.

I was going to work in Demand Generation, Marketing and Communications. Something which I absolutely loved doing. Like I mentioned in my last post, Campus India wants to help companies find Indian high potentials from the fields of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering and Management. The challenge of my work is that demand needs to be generated in two directions. Companies who would hire candidates and job seekers who would find jobs through us. I love the challenge. It’s the same model on which Airbnb works.

One of the first things I noticed was a nice soft pad which was kept with my keyboard. The mouse pad was also much nicer than a plain simple flat one. It was really a big thing for me. I felt that somehow in a very small but significant way my employer cared for my well-being and somehow this country has such a high value for life. I have deep respect for this aspect.

For the month of February my schedule was going to be 9.30am to 3.00pm of work. Lunch break in between – at the Mensa at Humboldt University at Adlershof. From 6pm to 9pm – German Language lessons at Kapitel Zwei. I would be finishing level A2.1 this month. I like staying busy and active and look learning every day and my semester break has been a good opportunity to be so.