More than painting transparencies and making coffee
Creating endless evaluations in Excel and making pretty slides in PowerPoint - this was the image of an internship I had been given in many reports by friends and fellow students. I experienced the complete opposite. My internship at rezemo was characterised by a wide variety of tasks, a lot of creative freedom and new challenges every week.
Hi, my name is Lena. I am studying "Sustainable Product Management" at the University of Applied Sciences in Geislingen an der Steige. For half a year I am allowed to work as an intern at rezemo.
In this blog post, I would like to present my experiences and most important learnings as well as personal insights into my everyday life as an intern at rezemo. A little teaser: I will continue at rezemo as a working student.
My way to rezemo
In December last year, I was looking for an internship. I came across a company that had set out to revolutionise the packaging industry in a sustainable way. Two young students had managed to develop a coffee capsule made entirely of bio-based materials. The company rezemo GmbH was founded on the basis of this technology.
Sustainability and coffee! I was immediately hooked. So I applied on my own initiative and was invited for an interview. A short time later, I was accepted. Starting in February, I would be doing an internship at rezemo. The product, the coffee capsule, had already convinced me 100% at this point. Moreover, I could find my personal convictions in the company's philosophy.
On Monday, 1 February 2021, the time had come. I arrived at Maybachstraße 22 in Waiblingen with a mixture of anticipation and excitement. I was very lucky to be able to work on site during my entire internship. This gave me the opportunity to gain insights into all areas of the company, from production to marketing and sales. My internship at rezemo was planned in the area of "Operations and Technology". In the end, I was allowed to work on tasks far beyond this area.
The work at rezemo
I spent most of my time with Janina, my incredibly great internship supervisor. Janina looks after production, logistics, research and development of new materials as well as quality and process management at rezemo. In short: she can do pretty much everything. Thanks to her, I was able to take on tasks concerning rezemo's own brand of coffee capsules as well as tasks for forewood. forewood forewood is a brand of rezemo GmbH founded at the beginning of 2021, which uses the material of the capsules to develop further sustainable packaging.
Janina and I spent a lot of time in production. This is in the same building as our office. Here, for example, we carried out tests on our injection moulding machines. In particular, we experimented with our wood-PLA granulate. The coffee capsules are made of this granulate. For example, we tested various sustainable additives for their processability and effects on the capsule.
I also supported Janina with various organisational tasks. These included the documentation of processes or the support of our ERP system. Occasionally, I also helped out practically in production.
Here I come to an aspect that made my internship unique: I experienced rezemo from every perspective. In every area of the company, I was able to benefit from the knowledge of my colleagues. This is so exciting because I understood the connections between the departments.
Here is a concrete example: When redesigning packaging, the external effect is particularly important. At the same time, good manageability in production must be observed. In addition, certain legal guidelines must be adhered to. A new packaging design is therefore a project that affects the most diverse areas of the company. Since I got to know the perspective of all areas, I had the chance to develop a deep understanding of the interactions within the company.
My tasks
My internship at rezemo was a colourful mix of digital and analogue tasks.
Here is a selection of my projects and tasks:
- Post-processing mock-ups from the 3D printer
- Create product portfolios
- Making seals for experiments with capsules
- Document changes in the inventory
- Decorate hotel showcase
- Tinker, order and organise various things for the office or internship. e.g. make rubber lids for capsule experiments, buy viewing boxes for production, structure production shelving.
- Research on a wide variety of topics. e.g. market or sustainability topics
- Participation in the revision of the corporate identity
- One of my favourite projects is organising a worm bin and "looking after" our office animals. (Compost worms live in this worm box and decompose organic waste into humus).
- …
My interim conclusion: The colourful mix of very different tasks made the internship such an instructive time.
Working in a team
Working in a start-up is characterised by initiative, spontaneity and ingenuity. There are no fixed structures. This means that every employee has the opportunity to set priorities, contribute their own ideas and implement projects. Whether working student or intern, founder or employee - at rezemo everyone is seen as a full member of the team from day one. Every opinion carries weight. The flat hierarchy ensures a very personal interaction with each other. Stefan and Julian are always open to questions. In the same way, I could always ask anyone in the team for help.
In my opinion, the colleagues are crucial for feeling comfortable at work. I quickly grew fond of the rezemo team. In the morning I look forward to hearing what Janina experienced at the weekend and where Jonas went by bike.
Properties and Learnings
Working at rezemo is different from working in a company, for example. During the internship, the following three characteristics stood out to me as important for working in a start-up.
Reliability - Self-confidence - Initiative
- Reliability! At rezemo there are flexible working hours, the possibility to work from home and a high degree of trust among each other. It is therefore all the more important that each employee reliably fulfils his or her tasks. This also requires the ability to structure oneself.
- Self-confidence! For me personally, it was a very positive challenge to take projects into my own hands, implement them and proudly present the result. I wouldn't describe myself as a shy person. Nevertheless, in the last six months I have learned to trust my abilities even more.
- Personal initiative! A free way of working demands self-responsibility and motivation. Since we are a small team, everyone has the opportunity to contribute. Every idea and every project is taken into account and moves rezemo forward.
There are always new, very different challenges in the daily work routine. I was allowed to learn a lot - both professionally and personally. But more than anything else, I have internalised these three lessons.
Fault tolerance -Passion - Creativity
- Fault tolerance! Don't be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes are not bad, but important to learn from.
- Passion! With passion for the cause, it is easy to find meaning in any small or large task.
- Creativity! Can't be done, doesn't exist. Just because something doesn't exist yet doesn't mean it can't be done. Stefan and Julian recognised the problem of waste caused by aluminium capsules and looked for a solution. Solutions don't just fall into your lap. But you can find and develop them.
Conclusion
For me, the internship at rezemo was the best thing that could have happened to me. Everything fits together: the tasks, the goal, the team. Here, I am clearly developing personally and professionally. The trust placed in me, as well as the demands of a wide variety of tasks and the support provided by team events with topics such as "mindfullness in everyday work", make working at rezemo unique.
For me, the internship was just right in every respect. Maybe for you too! At rezemo you can develop freely, contribute your skills and implement ideas. You have the opportunity to actively work on responsible products and make them known. Would you like to experience working at rezemo live and become part of our team? Click here for our vacancies. But feel free to apply, also on your own initiative. We are always happy to welcome new members to our team. If you have any questions, just write to us on Contact formInstagram or Facebook.