As Alex’s internship comes to its finish, we asked him to tell a bit about his experience in Russia. Here’s what he told us.
In late June I saw the internship offer of Sibers in the database of the international student organisation AIESEC. The sector software development was not really familiar to me but I was open for something exciting and new. 
And I did not worry as the job description of the marketing and sales department meet my expectations really well. So I sent my application form to Sibers. A week later after the telephone interview it was decided: I would go for an amazing new working and also great cultural experience.
When I arrived in Akademgorodok at the beginning of September I directly felt a warm and open atmosphere in the company. Everyone was interested in the new co-worker and I felt directly that they want me to become member of the Sibers team.
After the goal setting with the manager I got some time to become acquainted with the working field and the services Sibers provides. This was a really useful period of learning. To broaden my knowledge about the IT sector and IT markets was also vital, as only a basic background was existing – I must admit that I felt a bit like in the jungle at first. But not for long as all the help I needed was provided by my colleagues.
In the goal setting we decided on the interesting questions that should be answered with the market research: e. g. potentials of the market and advantages of operating with German companies and of course barriers and risks for a foreign company on the German market.
Next step was to find a strategie to enter the German IT market with the services Sibers provides. Concerning to the research we decided to not just translate the existing English website, but to make a new German website that matches the needs of the market more obviously – Green IT products. It includes the construction of efficient and cost saving software products. This matches the abilities of Sibers really well. So a great project idea was born.
During this project I learned how to construct a website and that many different specialists (project manager, designer, programmers, etc. and of course marketers) are needed to build up a new website. What surprised me in this case was how structured this process of constructing a internet presence has to be – at least if it shall be successful.
Parallel to this project I also did work on the sales sector and got to know many different internet tools for online research about customers. I really was fascinated by the huge amount of functions Google analytics and similar applications provide to gain useful information about the customer behaviour. I was also working on different networks and channels to get in touch with customers. Here I was supported with useful help by the colleagues in approaching clients. Very useful and interesting were also all the little information I learnt – around your area of expertise – that you hear from your colleagues or see during the day. These little things are needed for a high quality of teamwork and successful projects in my opinion.
In my three months here I became a real part of the team and my ideas were taken really serious. This was a big plus for me personally and for my personal development in the company. Besides I gained a huge amount of professional experience and knowledge in my working field, something that universities are not able to provide.
I want to thank Sibers for giving me this great opportunity and I hope that my work will help to get measurable results in near future.