Here you can find an interview that we conducted with Carmen about her Minor Placement at a German Federal Ministry!

Questions

Your answer

Which minor did you do?

Placement Minor without university courses, so basically a 5-month internship at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

What made you choose this minor?

While IR provides you with a great basis of theoretical knowledge, I felt like the practical side was missing. Therefore, I have always been interested in doing an internship to see what I enjoy doing when it comes to the practical side of IR:

What were the subjects you had in your minor?

/

What was your hardest experience during the minor course?

Leaving my comfort zone and asserting myself in a professional environment. At times it was uncomfortable but (as always) very worth it.

What was the best experience during the minor course?

The best experience during the internship was to live in Berlin for 5 months, to meet many other interns that shared similar worries about the future and to work for a ministry. The internship really helped me to shape my future career path because I was able to experience what kind of work I enjoy doing. Fortunately, this was the case with the work I did during the internship.

Did the course meet your expectations? Yes, why/ No, why not


Which other minor did you consider?

Energy Minor because I was interested in the subject.

Do you think that your minor will be useful for your future career?

Yes, why / No, why not

Definitely. I can only recommend doing an internship because you are leaving the academic bubble and see what is going on in the work world.

What would you say to future IRIO students who consider this minor?


I would recommend always applying and then see, maybe it works out and if not there are many nice other minors and courses you could choose from.

Ratings: Rate from 1 to 10

Was the minor doable? (1 very hard <-->10 very easy)

I mean you had to show up to work every day which was fine, so I would say it was doable so 10?

Was the workload less/the same/or more than the IRIO programme? (1 much less workload <--> a lot more workload)

Basic 9-5 day, so I’d say the same as IR.

How much would you recommend doing this minor? (1 not at all <--> 10 100% yes)

100


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