Internship and Thesis

Where to work, in a company or on campus?
Usually if you find an internship or a thesis topic in school, you don't get paid, and if you do get paid, it is not a lot (around €400 a month). If you find an internship or a thesis topic in a small scale company, they might pay you a small amount of money, but they might not pay. THEN (drum roll...) if you get accepted by a large company to do an internship or write a thesis, they usually pay you. And what I heard is that they amount varies from €500 to €1000 monthly, and I heard the average is about €700 a month.

How long does it take for an internship or a thesis from start to finish usually?
PEESE requires at least 8 weeks 10 weeks of internship and at least 4 months 25 weeks (about 6 months) of thesis. If you are doing an internship or a thesis in the school, it ranges from 3 months to 6 months, although the length of time also depends on how long it takes you to work on the particular project. But if you are working for a company, they usually would state that you should work for at least 4 months OR that the position is offered for 6 months.  6 months is usually the case for a company, although there are internships that takes a whole year as well.  There may also be unpaid 8-week internships.

When to look for an internship or a thesis topic?
If you are planning on getting a position for a certain time period, please start at least 4 - 6 months before the time you planned. It will definitely take a lot of effort researching for the topics that you are interested in and the facilities that you prefer, sending applications, revising applications, tracking application status and following up the application. It would usually take a lot of time for them to get back to you once you sent the application out. REMEMBER sometimes it is better to call to inquire about the availability of the position and what the topic is really about to show your interests and get some insights into the topics.

School Cycle Case: Some internship and thesis topic cycles try to align with the semester in the school system, so they might ask you to start either on the first of September or January/February. If it is under this cycle, the companies would post the positions up early and you'd have to apply much much earlier, I recommend to apply around 5 months prior to the start of the positions.

Company Convenience: There are also companies that are looking for interns of offering thesis topics in their own timing, you have to look for the date they are offering the positions for. These positions would be posted pretty randomly for random starting dates, so you'd just have to look for them and apply. I recommend you apply for these positions 1 or 2 months prior to start of the position and apply within 2 weeks of the posting dates OR call them up to check if the position is still available. Note that some companies welcome you to call and ask, some companies really dislike that, you would just have to feel the vibe while calling to see how the company application culture is at a particular company.

Where to look for a position?
School: You can usually find some position offers on posting boards on the school campus. You can try the posting boards in the Energietechnik building (TA building), KWT building or library (near the library cafe men's restroom).

Professors and Ph.D. students: Some Ph.D. students or professors are offering thesis topics to help their projects. You may want to ask and chat about it to see if there is anything offered that are of your interests. Some professors and lecturers are very well informed by companies seeking students to do their internships or offering students a thesis topic to work on. Asking and chatting with a professor is also a way to get an internship with a company or to write a thesis in a company.

Online: There are a lot of internet pages that devote to job searching. Usually any job searching engine would allow you to search for "Praktikum" or "Abschlussarbeit" in any area. Such as wer-zu-wem.de, monster.de, Stepstone, Jobstairs, fazjob.net, Connecticum, Experteer, Careerjet, LMV Jobbörse and etc.

DAAD also has a page dedicated to students looking for internships, but you can also find thesis topics online through some of their sites DAAD: Praktika Weltweit http://www.daad.de/ausland/praktika/praktika-weltweit/00733.de.html

New, for those who are more into mechanical and energy than columns:  Master Thesis eMobility (m/f) Job (Job #: 1586125)

What do you need to prepare for the application?
Typically these things are needed for applying a position:
- A cover letter/Anschreiben stating: where you found this position opening, what you are doing currently and your brief past educational background, you past experiences (work, researches or projects you've taken on) and why you are interested in this job and how it is relevant to your background. Don't forget that an application for a position is to get you a chance for an interview, not the job itself, so don't forget to say that you are asking for a possible interview and thank them for the opportunity.
- German style resume/curriculum vitae/Lebenslauf/Zusammenfassung (depending on the position applied, you may need it to be in German)
- Usually you may need a passport picture sized picture of you. It doesn't have to be passport picture itself, but the size is about that. You may need to paste it on the resume/CV/Lebenslauf/Zusammenfassung or attach it separately depending on what they require in the application process.
- A statement from PEESE stating that you are indeed required to do an internship and a thesis. You have to get this from Professor Wozny's secretary, ask for a Bescheinigung zum Pflichtpraktikum/zur Masterarbeit. You had better get this piece of paper before you get/renew your German student visa, so Ausländerbehörde could put this onto the student visa statement saying that you are required to do an internship and a thesis in the program you are studying in. (If it is stated on the student visa, you can save yourself the trouble of proving the requirement later. AND if you were to do the internship or the thesis in a non-EU country, you don't need to worry too much about the student visa issue as much.)
- The current school registration. This is the blue-ish paper that the school sends to you after you paid the semester tuition. ("Immatrikulationsbescheinigung")
- Work permit or residence visa ("Arbeiterlaubnis" or "Aufenthaltserlaubnis"), which is the same as your student visa. Hopefully you have the internship and thesis requirement stated on the visa, which tells people that you are allowed to work so long as it is required by the program. Having the student visa stating the requirements will save you a lot of trouble trying to prove your work allowance for the internship and the thesis.
- Current transcript ("Notenspiegel" or "Zensurenspiegel") of all the grades from all the classes you've taken in TU Berlin and, sometimes, in high school (probably for Germans only), request from Prüfungsamt

The Preparation For An Interview

- Review the material and the position requirements

Study and preview the knowledge that is required of you in the offer. The review how to use mentioned softwares, required knowledge area...

- Familiarize yourself about related products or related technologies

Some positions really want you to have a solid knowledge about the position and the work. Sometimes they would ask anything ranging from their company product to current technology, sometimes it is even very detailed and technical such as asking you to calculate something and estimate relative range and the reason for your answer.

- Think about common questions they might ask, such as:

What you are good at?

What is your shortcoming?

What you like to do on your free time?

Why you applied the position?

What is your current study about?

Why you decided to study your current subject?

What was your background study?

What have you done in this area?

Do you know something about the company location?

When would you like to start?

... and other stuff you can think of that applies to the particular position you applied for.

- Think about what you would like to ask them, such as:

Salary

Working conditions

Duration of the position and when they start
How the facility area is like (and think about if it is a place you'd be enjoying to live in)

Possibility of getting a thesis or internship position for the school requirement after this position

Housing situation in the area (when this is in question, they'd often offer you a list of resources for you to look into)

Convenience of public transportation

Your biggest concern if you do get the position (for me was always about finding housing in time for the start of the position)

... and other things that applies to you.

Once You Got Hired For An Internship Or A Thesis Position With Pay...

There are a couple of things for you to get before they could officially hire you:
- Steuerkarte (German tax form for the company to file income taxes)
Fill in the form: form (find the form called "Lohnsteuerkarte - Erstaustellung")
Bring your passport.
Line up in any Bürgeramt, tell them you need a "Steuerkarte."
No cost, just some time waiting till you get your number called. They would give it to you after receiving your form and passport on the same day.
- Sozialversicherungsnummer und -ausweis (social security)
Germany's health insurance and social security are somewhat related. This could be requested from your health insurance. Call you health insurance company to request your "Sozialversicherungsnummer" and "Sozialversicherungsausweis." Upon the request, the health insurance would place a request with Deutsche Rentenversicherung to send you a Sozialversicherungsausweis. The health insurance would also send you a letter by mail giving you your Sozialversicherungsnummer (social security number), and if your Sozialversicherungsausweis from Rentenversicherung does not come on time, you could use this letter and it would be recognized as the "Sozialversicherungsausweis."
REMEMBER: This "Sozialversicherungsausweis" is very important and you have to keep this in a safe place and not to lose it.
- Bestätigung der Hochschule
Sometimes there is a form from the company for the school to fill out, but sometimes it is a letter that you have to request from the secretary of our department (N-KWT 2nd floor, at the end of the hall).
It should state:
School's name and major
Contacting person of the department
Certify that you are indeed a student from the school
When you began your study at the school
The start date and end date of the internship/thesis and that it is indeed required (pflicht)
Signature or seal

Internship: The Write-Ups Required To Submit To PEESE

Since it is required for PEESE students to do an internship, it is required to turn in some write-ups and has to turn in to Professor Wozny.

- 2 pages per week
Since the PEESE program only requires 8 weeks 10 weeks of internship, only 8 weeks 10 weeks worth of internship report is legally required, thus the sum is 16 pages 20 pages.
IF your internship is more than 8 weeks, your company would count anything after 8 weeks as "freiwillig," meaning it is volunteer internship, which means you choose to work without the requirement of your studies.

Internship: I got hired in a company for more than 8 weeks...

8 weeks of required internship means that the company cannot deduct social security (Rentenversicherung), health insurance (Krankenversicherung and Pflegeversicherung), unemployment benefit insurance (Arbeitslosnversicherung) and any tax (Steuer) from your salary.  This means during the 8 weeks, you should get zero deduction on the paycheck.

After the 8th week of work, you are considered to be working voluntarily, which is just like a part-time job, thus all the items (social security, health insurance, unemployment benefit insurance and tax) would apply to your payment.  Hence the important things to be aware of when you got hired for more than 8 weeks of required internship period for the PEESE program:
- After the 8th week, make sure that your health insurance doesn't deduct the monthly payment from your bank account while your paycheck also gets deducted for health insurance.  If your health insurance does charge you after the 8th week (and you are sure that your internship payment deducts health insurance monthly payment), call your health insurance and explain to them them that you are employed where your employer assumes the position for paying the health insurance from your salary.

Thesis: The Forms And Paper Required To Submit To PEESE

- Find an advisor. This advisor has to be a professor in this area who oversees your thesis.

- Make sure your university supervising professor and you are on the same page in terms of what is expected of you in the thesis, how you guys would stay in contact throughout the thesis period, extra resources and other important issues.
- At the end of the thesis, depends on the conditions of the employers and the institutions, you have to give a presentation and defense for your thesis topic, which differs from one situation to another.  Make sure this is also cleared up in the beginning with your supervisors (professor or professors and the topic provider).

After The Employment For Internship (and may apply to thesis as well)

Ask your supervisor to provide you with an evaluation (Zeugnis).  This might come in handy when you look for a job in the future (especially in Germany).