New Employment - Update

Lately, life has been stressful. But, many things have changed for the better.

I realized that I haven't been posting in a while which is why I decided to post a current update on my situation. I started to apply for internships or other working student positions back in April. I completely underestimated this process to be fair. Very quickly I had interesting interviews with companies such as Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, and more. Unfortunately, since I am only coming back to Germany for 3 months, because of my summer break from university, I made it to the final stages or the position seemed very promising, but in the end, I got rejected. Mostly because the companies I applied for wanted me to work on-site, but since I was only in the country for a limited period, things didn't work out. No one likes to hire a student for only 3 months if they don't offer any remote work.

However, I did not lose hope. I kept applying for multiple positions, from a software developer to cybersecurity working student to internships in product management. I have this urge to gain more experience and it would be best if it has something to do with my field of interest.

After countless interviews and rejections, things were getting harder and harder. But like I said, I kept applying and reaching out to various companies. After losing the overview of all the positions I applied for, I finally heard good news from one specific company ... SAP.

This was such a relief.

Therefore, I am more than just happy to announce that I got accepted to work as a working student at SAP. I am working in Delivery Excellence and User Engagement. To keep it short, it is about Data integration and how you can measure your team's performance using certain tools that have to be embedded into the systems. I am responsible for the integration of that tool. As you can picture, this requires a lot of research since no one takes your hand and carries you through this whole process. I feel like this is a new challenge I have to face since it can be very frightening at the beginning to get introduced to a very unfamiliar area and you kind of have to make your own way through it. Although you have people around you that have a lot of experience and that are always willing to help you, it requires a lot of autonomous work.

Getting to know the logic behind the tools and the systems that are in use, is one step in the right direction, but doing the practical work can get very tricky.

The most important thing here is to approach this situation with the right mindset. Instead of constantly thinking that you do not properly know everything about the infrastructure and the tasks you are being provided with, see it as a challenge. An opportunity to grow. If it frightens you at first, it probably means that you should do it. Wherever there is fear, there is also interest.

This interview process and all the countless moving around between Amsterdam and Germany limited my process in getting ahead with my Security+ certification. However, I started to realize that sometimes, not everything goes as planned. The most important thing is that you have the guts to point it out, and take action. After concluding that I have been slacking on getting this certification, I had to remind myself, that this is one of the goals I set myself for this year. I am the only one that prevents me from achieving my goals.

It is never easy to be completely honest with oneself, but pointing out the issue and working on it is the only way to get better and reach what you aimed for. I am slowly adjusting to my new work position and by implementing the right system and setting my priorities straight, there will always be enough time to work towards my goals.

I'll pick up my learning habits and not only focus on my job but my personal goals as well, which is to get my CompTIA Security+ certification.

Another thing that I've learned on this journey is that it is not necessarily just about getting the certification but about the things I learn while preparing for this exam. Realizing, that nothing comes as easy as you think it would. When you lose focus, analyze why and what you can do to prevent that from happening again. I learned a lot of things while studying for the exam and I also learned a lot of things after realizing that I wasn't studying as much as I used to before.

Anyways, this is my perspective on the current situation and I hope that if anyone finds themselves in a similar spot, there is no need to worry. Things are getting better, you are getting better and problems are never going to stop occurring. What you can do is choose your problems. Problems that will lead you to a better version of yourself, if you are willing to solve them.