During the 5 weeks’ stay in Hamburg, I did an internship at InterGest Germany. I participated in diverse tasks and was able to fully experience how the daily life as an German employee as well as a local Hamburg resident is. I felt really fulfilled to help the company complete some important work, and I learned a lot of new things from this experience at the same time. Below is a summary of my time at the company.

Regarding work & my studies:

1．Check Clients’ Invoice Information of Intergest Germany

The main part of my work was to organize and check the past 2 years’ invoice information about the business between InterGest Germany and its enterprise clients. In this task, I compared the paper invoice information with its electronic document version in the Datev system, then corrected the invoice mistakes according to original transaction records. I managed to set a complete invoice edition, and recorded it into company’s finance system.

2. Translate the VAT registration questionnaire from German into English

It is important for foreign companies to be familiar with the rules and laws of the German market when they start business in Germany. Thus many enterprise clients turn to InterGest Germany for help with their employees administrative and VAT payment tasks. As InterGest Germany’s operation conditions continue to improve, more and more foreign clients are applying for administration service help. As a result, it is necessary to prepare all the documents in English. I did the translation of the VAT registration questionnaire into English in order to insure the clients were provided with accurate information and to make it clear enough for them to fill it out. I also did some research on the German UstG laws.

3. Attended the DACHINA brand dialogue conference to learn about German and Chinese enterprise branding strategy

On September 5th, I attended the DACHINA brand dialogue conference, which discussed branding and marketing strategy between companies from Germany and China. The speeches given by Volkswagen, Vitra and Montblanc gave me a deeper understanding of how German companies market their brands. I was impressed by how German companies can effectively increase brand revenues and while at the same time maintain their high product quality standards.

Several Chinese companies like Midea, Gani Ceramics, Hisense and Alibaba also shared their brand strategy stories at the conference. Similar to the German enterprises, these Chinese companies also focus on a balance between maintaining their high quality and spreading their brand message.

4. Attending the “Africa Insight-Perspectives for German SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa” event to learn the business opportunities for German companies in Africa

On September 21th, I participated in a business event held by InterGest Worldwide and HASPA bank to discuss the business opportunities in Africa. Many participators expressed their opinions about the resources and advantages in Africa as well as the potential of this market. They also discussed about the difficulties they already experienced here like ‘how to properly choose a local partner’ and ‘how language can limit the spread of your brand’. One of the largest problems they faced was how to balance quality with the product selling price, as German products are usually both high quality and have a high price, which makes it difficult for the majority of African residents to buy them.

I learned that both German and Chinese companies play an active role in African market but each still have yet to reach their potential there as Africa as a whole lacks technology, qualified personnel and capital investments. Thus, it will be vital for participants to do a cost-benefit analysis as to how much effort they should spend on selling their products in African market.

For Daily Life and Trips in Europe

1.     Experienced how a German company operates and how daily life is in Hamburg

During my 5 week stay, I learned the social rules of a German company and helped with some administrative work while there. Every employee was very friendly but also went out of their way to help make me feel at home.

I visited some famous and interesting places in Hamburg at spare time. I went to the St. Michealis Church to view the Panorama of Hamburg. I also visited other interesting places such as Alster Lake, Hamburg Rathaus and Hamburg Kunsthalle. Hamburg was such a beautiful place to enjoy life and I feel relaxed during my staying there.

On weekends, I visited several large European cities like Copenhagen, Paries and Dusseldorf. Each city has its unique culture and magnificent scenery. It was definitely a memorable experience staying there.