Name of the supervisor at the FH: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Walter Reichert
Practical training in the mobility window
FH Aachen | Thilo B.
Bosch in Curitiba, Brazil: The QM department
Preparation and organisation of the practical training in the mobility window
When did you start the organisation? January 2015.
How did you make contact with the employer? Through a family friend of mine who lives near the site. The contact was made by a person who works for the company.
How long did the application process take and what documents were required? My application process took over 5 months. In Brazil, practical trainings can only be given to domestic students. It is therefore necessary to take care of registration at a university in Brazil in addition to the internship. As attendance is compulsory at all universities in Brazil, the distance between the university and the internship position should not be too great. (The employment contract would be cancelled immediately if the attendance requirement at the university was not met). Due to the fact that there is a recruitment test for (almost) all applications for a place at university in Brazil, it proved to be very difficult for me to find a place. This search became increasingly difficult as I was unable to speak Portuguese before my stay. In the end, however, FAE University Curitiba, which is also a partner university of FH Münster, accepted me without an entrance test. Due to the Brazilian mentality, the processing of documents in public offices can take a long time. For this reason, you should look for an internship and registration at the same time. It should be noted that the student visa is only issued with the approval of a university. It is also advantageous to be able to show your employer proof of registration. However, there is also an alternative route. State universities also accept students without an entrance test if they already have an employment contract. In order to ensure that the application documents are processed promptly, you should follow up with the various offices more often. In my case, it was very helpful to have a familiar person on site who was very committed to ensuring that my formalities were completed on time.
Did you need a visa and if so, did you have to organise it yourself or did your employer apply for it for you? I needed a student visa, which I had to organise myself. I had to apply for the visa at the Consulate General of Brazil. Among other things, a financial guarantee for my stay abroad had to be signed by my parents. This also had to be certified by a notary recognised by the Brazilian embassy (costs approx. €100).
Useful tips or further information on preparation: As FAE University is a private university, I had to pay around €600 in semester fees. The following documents were also required for registration: - letter of recommendation from FH Aachen - transcript of records and university history, which had to be notarised by the FH Aachen student secretariat (Bayerallee), the administrative district of Cologne and the Consulate General in Frankfurt. - school leaving certificate, which had to be notarised by the administrative district and the Consulate General in Frankfurt. (Costs approx. 250€). - In addition, all documents had to be translated into Portuguese and notarised. In my case, the FAE University took care of this itself for around €50.
Financial
Did you receive funding to finance your stay abroad? It is possible to receive funding from the Auslandsbafög (foreign student grant), which covers the costs of travelling and health insurance abroad.
Did you receive a salary from your employer? In addition to a salary of 2000R$, I was also able to use the canteen at Bosch free of charge.
Approximately how much did you spend travelling to the host country? My travelling costs for the outward and return journey were €1000. However, it is quite possible to find tickets for half the price.
What are the approximate living and accommodation costs in the host country? Similar to Germany.
Did you have to take out additional health insurance? Health insurance was required for the visa and the employer. I took out health insurance abroad with Hanse Merkur Versicherung. This cost €1.05 per day. Uncomplicated!
Is further insurance necessary? No.
On site
What formalities have to be completed after arrival? After arrival, registration with the Brazilian Federal Police was necessary. This involves costs of around €150 and waiting times. In my case, Bosch hired a company that took care of the registration on my behalf (Bosch covered the entire costs).
How did the search for accommodation go? As I was living with a family friend, I didn't have to do this.
Where is the best place to live? You should find out in advance which neighbourhood is safe to live in.
What are the local shopping facilities like? Similar to Germany, but also open on Sundays.
What is cheap or expensive in the host country? Petrol and meat are cheaper. Tourist activities are more expensive.
How far did you live from the company and what was the daily commute to work like? Distances are relative in Brazil. I lived about 10 kilometres away from Bosch, but could reach it within 15 minutes by car. Whereas employees living in the city centre can be stuck in traffic jams for up to an hour. In Brazil, it is common for large companies like Bosch to offer a transfer service to and from work for their employees. I could also have used this service.
What can you say about the company location?What leisure activities / excursions / tourist attractions are there locally? Curitiba is one of the safest and most European-influenced cities in Brazil. It has around 2 million inhabitants, making it the eighth largest city in the country. Curitibans like to spend their weekends on the coast, 80 km away. In addition to an airport, the city also has numerous large parks, several shopping centres and a good nightlife.
Are there any special customs/customs among the locals and what is an absolute taboo? Being secretive is taboo. Brazilians are very open and approach people. You should adapt and reciprocate their friendliness. Surprisingly, Brazilian life works extremely well despite absolute unpunctuality and considerable unreliability.
About the employer
Briefly describe the company! Bosch in Curitiba is almost exclusively a production centre. The location is the headquarters of Robert Bosch Latin America for the Diesel Systems division. The company was also very committed to helping me with other aspects besides registration. For example, Bosch provided me with a certified translation of my driving licence and offered to pick me up at the airport and from home on my first day at work.
Which Section did you work in? Quality management department
Topic of your project work or focus of your practical training: 1. project: Improvement of the return process for rejected products from abroad 2. project: Introduction of automated reporting for complaints for the 0 km sales area
Was the topic of the project work specified by the company or could you choose it yourself? The topics were specified by the company.
How many hours did you work on average? A 6-hour day is mandatory for all students in Brazil, as students have to go to university in the evening.
Other comments on the practical training: Communication during the practical training was mainly in English. Although there were many engineers and interns in the company who also spoke German, most of them preferred to communicate with me in English.
Final considerations - Conclusion
How would you rate your stay abroad overall? Very, very enriching and I would recommend it to anyone. I found getting to know the completely different mentality to us Germans, both privately and professionally, to be a very valuable experience.
What were the high and low points of your stay? The highlights included the countless trips, which allowed me to see a lot of the country and make many new friends. What wasn't so great was that I wasn't able to significantly improve my Portuguese language skills despite a three-month language course. This was mainly due to the fact that communication was mainly in German and English.
What will you never forget? I will never forget the hospitality and enthusiasm of the Brazilians towards Germans.
What advice would you like to give to other students on your degree programme who decide to spend a semester abroad in this country? Don't give up on the application process. The application process is lengthy and nerve-wracking, but perseverance pays off after just a few days in Brazil. Be aware of the huge amount of work involved in applying, which is almost impossible to manage on your own. I had two people, my mum and the person I knew in Brazil, who invested a lot of time and energy in me. Despite this, I ultimately had to compromise on my academic achievements during the preparation period.
