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Hello, good afternoon, I haven't contacted you for a long time ...
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Arne, 26 years old, writes: »I am about to finish my master’s degree as an electrical engineer and am considering career opportunities. I did a three-month internship at an industrial company, where I enjoyed it very much and I also got a very good certificate. The internship was two years ago, and I haven't kept in touch since then. Now that I'm looking for a job, just getting in touch feels kind of stupid. What is the best way to proceed? "
Hello Arne,
It is a good idea to start your career after your studies where you have already gained practical insight and where you enjoyed your internship. You can estimate what to expect - unlike other companies where you simply apply for job advertisements and do not know what is really behind it.
But you are also a preferred candidate from the company's perspective.
You write that you received a very good reference, in other words: the company also seems to have been satisfied with you.
This shared experience also reduces the risk of recruiting for the company. So all paletti, if it weren't for your bad feeling in your stomach: I haven't heard from me for two years, and now, when I need a job, I'll get in touch again.
Yes, it would certainly be easier for you to call them if you had been in touch regularly.
But that is not the case.
How can you proceed now so that the whole thing doesn't have that unpleasant aftertaste?
Looking for a good hook
Think about what kind of projects you worked on at the time.
Has a new manufacturing process been developed that should then be used in production?
Or have you worked on a new application in product development?
This could be a good starting point to approach your contact at the time and ask how the project went.
Perhaps with a little research you will find a technical article that has to do with the topic and refer to it.
By building on the work together, you can more easily get back on the thread because you have a topic that binds you together.
Show your own further development
Try to work out for yourself what the internship brought you in terms of your further development. Were there any key experiences or important insights that you gained and that shaped you? Did this influence your further decisions or your actions? If this is the case, it can be a good approach to get in touch with the manager at the time and to thank them after a while. Do you think that executives don't have the time and are annoyed? From my experience I can tell you that an honest thank you is a beautiful form of appreciation to which managers are also receptive. Managers in particular are not spoiled when it comes to positive feedback, which is often balm on the soul. But be careful: Don't just poke aroundInstead, come to the point in concrete terms, what has really helped you and that you will now successfully complete your master’s degree.
Inquire as a reference provider
Another option is to ask in the course of your application preparations whether your manager at the time would be willing to be available as a reference provider. Since he or she got to know you both as a person and in your way of working during the internship, this assessment is important to you. This approach also expresses appreciation and helps you specifically with other applications. In practice, personal references are much more important than standardized certificates. Ask specifically how he or she would like to be contacted by potential employers to whom you are applying. Emphasize that you enjoyed your internship at the company a lot. Feel free to add that, should there be any internal vacancies in the near future,are also very interested in it. In this way, the manager knows and can possibly bring you into conversation with internal tenders without the pressure that you have a specific expectation. Because you also apply elsewhere.
Search for job postings
It is of course easiest if there are vacancies in the company.
Then you can refer to it directly and ask whether you can refer to your boss at the time in your application.
Because, as mentioned at the beginning, the real experience with a candidate in your own company cannot be replaced as a basis for decision-making.
If you no longer have a specific contact person, write at least in your cover letter that you have been an intern in the company for several months.
Even taking into account the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), your data and thus also the evaluation by your boss would still have to be saved in the company.
So take heart and approach your former internship employer. Because just as you are looking for a job, companies are fundamentally interested in good employees. And especially in times when the job market is rather tight with vacancies, you should actively use your competitive advantage.