Marketing for a cosmetic brand. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet tons of fun. For the past couple of months I had the opportunity to intern at the german cosmetics company Jean&Len. Now you might think: This is the most generic internship you can do these days. And you’re right. But hey, everyone does it – so it must be great. I can assure you, I had a great time.
And then Covid came along
I definitely imagined my internship a little differently. I wanted to get to know everyday office life in a cosmetics company. Days filled with testing products, selecting fragrances and being totally hands on. Due to the corona pandemic, the entire company then relocated to everyones individual home. I was given a laptop and was supposed to go to work from home. I was afraid that I would have to stop my internship. Or at least postpone it. However, there were few industries that were as high in demand as soap companies. So it was all the nicer to have the opportunity to continue during Corona.
It was clear from the start that the transition would not be easy for any of those involved. But after a short period of getting used to it, I quickly found myself in the new everyday life. It was exciting to be faced with a completely new challenge, which in the end I really grew on. I’ve become a lot more independent. If something didn’t work straight away, I tried to find a solution myself before making the effort to call or text someone. This made me realize: I can do it myself! If I had any questions, my colleagues could always be reached by text, Zoom or phone, so I was able to solve even slightly more difficult tasks quickly.
One particular skill which I improved during the time that I was working from home, was my time management. Every day started with a Zoom call with the entire staff, during which the upcoming workday and planned tasks were discussed. Then I was able to distribute my tasks independently over the day. This self-organization helped me a lot. I quickly learned to divide my tasks over the respective hours and to meet deadlines. Of course, I was also in constant communication with my supervisors during the day. A distinct contact person was defined for each task who could help me with any questions. So I always knew who to turn to and everyone was very patient and helpful.
Initially, the new situation can of course be a bit overwhelming, as the professional world in itself is a new situation. You are forced to organize your day independently and you need a lot of support from the company, especially at the beginning. But as I was able to find out: It’s worth it! I 100 percent draw a positive conclusion from this extraordinary situation. I am very happy that I was given the chance to do this internship. Despite working from home, I learned a lot. Now I definitely feel prepared for my future professional life.