BMW HQ, Munich

Well, how and where to start? It was close to the end of both my double-degree program in Deggendorf and my studies in general. I had the last chance to use some opportunity as a student. Since I had used all posibiliteis in terms of studying, my goal was to find a solid professinal opportunity as I was slowly looking for a full-time job. I was mainly focused on German market. Reasons?  I was already studying there and would graduate when applying, which could increase my chances on the german job market. I wanted to master my German language skills. And, most importantly, I wanted to become an employee of some world-known german cars producer such as Porsche, Audi, BMW, Volkswagen. I sent like fifty CV´s to various job positions, had only four job interviews and eventually got picked by two. Any guesses? Well, BMW and Volkswagen offered me a position. Both in their Headquarters!! After I had realized how happy and amazed I am, the tricky part stood in front of me Not gonna lie, it was so damn hard to choose. Eventually I picked BMW as they offered me good conditions, job description looked interesting and Munich is a beautiful city! So the dream began!

Accommodation

I was living 45 minutes away from the work for the first 14 days. The I moved to BMW apartments that they offered me. The flat was a small studio. Very cosy, with a TV and everything you need. The "BMW doorms" as I called it, were only 15 minutes far from work, near matro stations and shopping gallery. Perfect! Of course, the rent was not small, but I was living alone and close to work.

Work and BMW environment

The internship was 6 months long and frankly speaking it wasnt enough to get to know such a huge company entirely. BMW is just enormous. It seemed like city inside the city. BMW has so many buildings and areas that there are shuttle buses going every 30 minutes between them. Naturally, buidling are modern filled with hich-tech features, meeting rooms are vast and clean, colleagues were always nicely dressed, polite and very professional. It might have been due to the fact that it was HQ. Anyway, I never had any issue or an argument with colleagues-My boss was super nice and must´ve had high level of patience with me I guess. I had to adapt to the work environemnt very quickly, so I could demonstrate my potential and be actually usefull. Still I needed the whole month or maybe even more to fully understand my role, to get used to the tempo, stress and to undertand the responsbility of my role and tasks.  My position was called Brand Strategic Portofolio manager, meaning me and my colleagues were responsible for the strategic brand and portfolio requirements as input for product development process (automobiles/digital services). In other words, we were gathering and conslidating all the requirements that the future BMW cars in different continents/countries must have in order to satisfy our customers. Worth mentioning, we had to be in compliance with the company values, visions and other brands requirements etc.   

Although the work at BMW was not easy, on the contrary, it was very stressful for me to be honest, the life in general was amazing. BMW values its employees really very much. I was only intern and still got offered many possibilities to take part in different programs including company tours, numerous presentations about the current development or futuristic visions, many workshops or sessions for your personal growth, oficial new cars presentation! Of course I had an intern prorgam for smoother adaptation, meeting other interns and absorbing BMW values and principles. And, many benefits. For example a company car!!

Munich and my life

Frankly speaking, I had very little of my social life. I run home after work, because I was writing my diploma thesis every day and preparing for the final graduation from two universities. Weekend were better, though. I was exploring Munich city center, meeting other interns, jogging a bit or sitting in the part near lake. I managed to visit Dachau, which used to be a concentration camp during the second world war. I also fulfiled my dream and bought a ticker for the Champions League match of Bayern Munich. I was lucky enough to experience the Munich Christmas markets and also the famous October fest!