Author: Lisa Martin

Jan Richter comes from the Czech Republic and started studying economics and languages at the HSZG to learn German. He completed his Bachelor's degree in 2018 and then went on to complete his Master's degree at IHI in Zittau. Jan Richter then returned to the Czech Republic, where he is now employed by Cattron s.r.o., which manufactures communication devices and offers technical services. His bachelor's degree was helpful in that he is now able to support German customers and communicate with his German colleagues. The business aspect of the course has also helped Jan Richter a great deal in his current work in a company. He can put the knowledge he gained in the areas of marketing and management to good use in his work. What he finds unique about his job at Cattron s.r.o. is that his tasks are different every day, as the customers always need something specific and he has to meet these special, tailor-made requirements.

Paula Trela is also a graduate of the Business and Languages degree program. She is originally from Poland, but grew up in Germany. She completed her studies in the Polish specialization in 2020. Through her compulsory internship during her studies, she got a job at SWG AG in the IT department for the introduction of document management software, which did not fit in at all with the content of her studies. However, Paula Trela saw this as a new challenge, which she mastered and has not regretted so far. Today, she works as a career changer in the IT department at SWG AG. Her areas of responsibility include commercial tasks and internal sales services for IT services to external business customers.

Even though the Business and Languages course does not train you for an IT career, Paula Trela was able to take a lot away from the business part. But she also took advantage of the opportunity to take other modules from other degree courses and was thus able to expand her knowledge in the areas of law and economics, which helps her in her current job. She continues:

"However, I am glad that I also had the language part in my studies. It brought me closer to the Polish language and I learned a lot of new things. I also learned how to approach complex tasks and complete them step by step!"

Alicja Biernat completed her degree in Business and Languages at the HSZG in 2021 and now works in online retail. In addition to design activities, website administration and customer support, her job is to translate product texts from Polish into German or English. The language modules from her studies have prepared her for this, as she herself reports:

"The degree course prepared me for various translation situations, both formal and informal. - As far as the linguistic and translation side is concerned, I think I was adequately prepared for my current job."

Even during her studies, Alicja Biernat did many internships to gain as much experience as possible. In her current job, she is also learning a lot of new things and taking part in various training courses offered to her to (further) develop her creativity and translation skills. Alicja is doing all this because she dreams of becoming self-employed and setting up her own company. She has already laid the foundations for this through her studies at the HSZG and her many professional experiences. Finally, Alicja Biernat has one last piece of advice for current students:

"Don't give up when you're looking for your own path. Try several times, even if someone rejects you and your idea. Go your own way and don't pay attention to others."

Summary:

Former students from the Business and Languages course talk about their experiences on the course and the prospects that opened up for them in the world of work. As the course no longer exists in this form at the HSZG, we also take a look at the new Bachelor's degree course in International Business Communication and what makes it so special.