This is a short story about me and how the three month stay in Germany was a lifetime experience and a springboard for my professional and private life.
Let’s start from the beginning. First things first, my name is Benjamin Kadiric and I am a mechanical engineer coming from a small place called Puracic near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina,. I am a passionate, motivated and eager to learn new things and stuff person, which resulted in getting involved in multiple extracurricular activities during my studies such as my involvement in numerous Start-up challenges.
Also, my motivation to learn new things, gain experience in the field of engineering and the desire to meet new people, made me sign up the Zoran Djindjic Internship Programme of German Business for the Countries of the Western Balkans.
Speaking of the application process, it was really simple. From sending the application to the interview and the process of matchmaking, everyone was amasing and really nice.
If I may give you a little piece of advice – be yourself and do believe in yourself.
I was lucky and got an interview with a company called TePmA Engineering GmbH located in Borken (Westf), Germany. I had a quite easy-going online interview with the company which resulted in the invitation for a three months internship. I was their first intern from Bosnia and Herzegovina and also their first intern from the Internship Programme of German Business. The company itself was a super fit for me. It was founded in 1995. Their main focus can be seen in providing planning of heating/cooling, ventilation, sanitary, electrical and MSR (Measurement control and regulation technology) works.
I lived in Borken for three months, traveling to work by bike for full 5 minutes I had a breathtaking apartment with a beautiful view on the city. Speaking about Borken, it is a small, beautiful and highly recommended place to visit, north of Essen. Every day differed a bit from the other From one day chilling around the beautiful places in Borken, all the way to hanging out with newly met colleagues and now friends. The magic of living in Germany got even stronger when I started traveling to the places around Borken and even different sides of the country itself.
First thing on my checklist when I came to Germany was to visit an old friend who I had not seen for a couple of years. He lived by train away from Borken 8 hours but one day I got the courage and bought the train ticket. Best decision during my stay.
During my 8 – 10 hour travel I met new people from around the globe and got to make new friends along the way. This was only the kick-off to many more adventures. I started travelling to other places, visited my internship friends and gained valuable experience from them, too.
Participating in the Internship Programme of German Business helped me to step out of my comfort zone which I almost never did before that. I gained huge experience in the field of engineering I never thought I would, and I loved every second of it. My English and German language skills improved significantly and after putting my experience on my CV, companies back home started approached me – something I had never dreamt of. Today, I am working as Process Engineer at Traktionssysteme Bosnia which would never be the case with all the professional experience I gained in Germany.
But the most valuable aspect of my time in Germany and now as an alumni of the regional alumni network of our Programme is dedicated to meeting old friends again, making new friends for life, traveling through Germany and now moving through the Balkans participating in all these alumni events.
Believe it or not – this is a „Once in a lifetime experience“.
I am very thankful for the given opportunity to be part of the Internship Programme of German Business and TePmA Engineering GmbH for this amazing experience.
