Insights into professional life: Internship at GesundLand Vulkaneifel

My name is Lars and I live in Bad Bertrich. I attend the vocational school in Cochem. In order to successfully complete the Fachhochschulreife, I have to gain 26 weeks of experience in different companies. That means: time for internships! Of these 26 weeks, I was allowed to support the GesundLand Vulkaneifel team for six weeks and gain important experience for the future.

Usually I lead a very relaxed life. But now that it's time for my internship, I realize that I have to restructure my life a bit, because working life is more demanding than being a student. I start my internship on a warm Monday morning. On my first day of internship, I am especially excited to see what and who new things I will get to know. Even before my internship, I knew that I would be spending time with Pia Rheinhard and Elke Kretzschmar. I have known both of them for a while, since I live in Bad Bertrich. Pia welcomes me very friendly and shows me the most important thing: my workplace. I immediately feel comfortable and well received.

Over the next few days, Pia and Elke show me the systems they work with every day: Deskline for booking and event management and the cash register system. Relatively quickly, I'm familiar with both systems, and that's a good thing, because I'll be working with them every day from now on. My main task, however, is direct customer contact: Whether by phone or in person directly at the counter, I really enjoy contact with customers. Since I am a local, I can give the guests good information about hikes or day trips and still have one or two insider tips ready.

I quickly learn that when working at the Tourist Information, one always approaches guests in an open and friendly manner. This makes them feel welcome and well advised right away. At times, I now also work together with Rainer Schmitz, with whom I also get along well right away. Together we have solved many problems well.

After my internship, I can say that I was able to gain a lot of new experience in the six weeks that I can put to good use in the future. I also learned that a workday doesn't always go as planned and that sometimes you have to react quickly and flexibly.

I would like to thank the whole GesundLand team, but especially Pia, Elke and Rainer for the opportunity to gain such valuable experience and that they appreciated me as an intern and trusted me completely! It was a great time, which brings me forward a bit in my professional development.