From Blind Applying champion right into the first job

My name is Chloé. I am 24 years old and currently work in Lille, France, as a Junior Project Manager in the IT department. Let me tell you about my original journey within Bayer from the beginning, and how I discovered the hidden wealth of the IT department.

After receiving a master’s degree in International Business Management from a business school in Paris, I was determined to do my final internship abroad. As any student knows, it can be quite difficult to combine an internship experience abroad with the assurance of gaining a valuable and relevant assignment, especially if it’s for a short period of time.

My wonderful story with Bayer starts on an evening in January 2016. I remember receiving an email from my school mentioning a partnership with Blind Applying. This unique collaboration project with international top employers offers one internship at one of their locations worldwide. Up until the interviews take place, the students don’t know, for which internship, in which city and company they are applying. Three weeks after applying, Bayer contacted me. I couldn’t believe it! One month after my interview, I landed in the US in Raleigh to start my internship on an IT project for Bayer Crop Science.

From an internship in the US…

During my internship, I worked for the Marketing & Sales Roadmap Program, which is a collaboration between IT and the business units to provide new capabilities through IT tools. I was involved in facilitating meetings, compiling requirements directly from the business partners and participating in formal project methodology, including documentation, processes and procedures. With my degree and internship experiences in business, I first was afraid of not having an IT expert’s knowledge, but ultimately neither my internship nor my actual job required typical IT skills. Because the program related to Marketing, Sales and IT, I was working with people from different fields and obtained a perfect overview of project management support. I was particularly involved in change management, and working on the communication, business readiness, coaching and training plans. This internship helped me to develop my soft skills and to learn a lot from the change manager. It also confirmed my strong interest in helping companies to prepare for and manage change.

…to a job offer back in France

My American team gave me the great opportunity of being linked with the French IT team and that’s how I obtained my current job. Today, I’m working on a Customer Relationship Management project for Bayer Healthcare with enhanced responsibilities. My daily life at Bayer is inspired by the power to change: Every day I have contact with international colleagues to learn more about their innovations and get their feedback on the project.

My experiences in both countries taught me something we don’t learn at school: Our society is changing and that has a big impact on employees. Companies constantly change. Tools and people move quickly from position to position, so it is crucial to communicate openly. Starting my career at Bayer gave me the key elements needed to be confident about the future. My advice is to be open-minded: Like swimming competitions taught me, give it a try because you never know what memorable moments lie ahead.

This post is also available in: German