IT internship at Bayer

Xi'an has always been a cosmopolitan kind of place. It was here in the central Chinese province of Shaanxi that the famous Silk Road linking Asia with Europe once originated. And it was also from Xi'an that Sharon Sun set out into the world. "My dream was a challenging task in IT management, with plenty of responsibility and creative scope." the young Chinese IT specialist reminisces. This ambitious goal became reality for her at Bayer Business Services. And her studies laid the foundation for achieving it.

 “By the time I came to Germany, I had already earned bachelor’s degrees in English and international trade. I also had two years of work experience – that’s why the early combination of study and job experience was very important to me,” explains Sun. Her career goal firmly in sight, she finally enrolled at Hamburg-Harburg Technical University to study information and media technologies. At the same time Sun earned her MBA at Northern Institute for Technology in Hamburg. Given her enthusiasm for information technology, it wasn’t long before she got an opportunity to gain practical experience.

“While browsing the Bayer website, I came across the page offering internships and the opportunity to write one’s diploma thesis at Bayer Business Services, the IT services provider of Bayer,” Sun recalls. “I was immediately fascinated by the prospect of writing my thesis there.” And Bayer became equally interested when her application arrived. The company’s suggestion that she first complete a three-month internship soon turned out to be a very good idea: “This gave me thorough insight into the many activities of Bayer Business Services around the world, plus I got to know my colleagues and was able to familiarize myself with the technological requirements in preparation for writing my dissertation.”

These requirements were certainly challenging: Ms. Sun decided to join the Science & Technology unit of Bayer Business Services, where top-class IT specialists are engaged in development and support for systems and services used in leading-edge research. The service spectrum ranges from programs for scientific data recall through extensive database systems to complex laboratory software and global network management. The department mostly develops unique applications for highly specialized uses, which is what makes this work so interesting and varied.

“When developing a complex application for research, it’s crucial to fully understand the user’s needs. To be able to offer the customer the right solution – and a user-friendly one at that – you have to listen hard and ask all the right questions,” explains the 28-year-old IT expert. Relying on these qualities, she developed an efficient method for changing the technology in various IT systems. That achievement, she says, would not have been possible without the good working atmosphere within her team: “My colleagues were always willing to help me with problems, and they gave me many valuable suggestions for my project. In this way we all learned from one another.”

The independent work on her own project and the keen support she received from experienced IT specialists made Sun’s time with Science & Technology a fruitful and successful endeavor: “As a student, you need to have the courage to face challenges in order to fully exhaust your potential,” she says, summing up her experiences. “Bayer places tremendous importance on innovation and gives its employees the necessary means and the freedom to continually try out something new.” It’s only logical that Sun now works for Bayer Business Services in Hong Kong, and not just because of her internship. After all, the old Silk Road wasn’t a one-way street either.

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