Citizens' Office bids farewell to five annual interns for the 2022/23 school year
04.08.2023
For twelve months, five vocational college students supported the team at the Citizens' Office as part of their compulsory internship on the way to their vocational baccalaureate. During this time, they accepted and processed thousands of passport and ID card applications. "Apart from the fact that they still look very young, they are almost indistinguishable from the other customer advisors," says Franziska Reinig, who is responsible for supervising the interns in her role as Head of Department at the Citizens' Office. All the necessary legal and procedural knowledge is taught during the internship and experienced employees are on hand to provide advice on complicated cases and questions.
"I had an exciting and very varied year here in the team," says Younes Lazar about his experiences. He emphasizes the excellent support and that the team has grown close to his heart. "We always felt like colleagues and were taken very seriously," confirms Houssam Moussaid. For Tiffany Dietermann and Ilias Beyaz, the special thing about the internship was being able to really get involved, do real work and gain valuable experience. "I experienced how demanding it is to deal with customers and how much appreciation I receive when I do a good job," says Abeh Bhasin.
Everyone will remember how grateful the customers were when, for example, their vacation could be saved because they were missing valid documents shortly before a trip. They learned a lot about entry requirements for foreign countries and contact with German diplomatic missions abroad was also part of their everyday work. "I also learned what to do if I ever lose my ID abroad. That's good to know," says Younes Lazar, summing up his experiences.
Extensive learning experiences
But the trainees didn't just learn about legal matters. "It was exciting to see what all has to be organized in the background to make a business like the Citizens' Office work," emphasizes Houssam Moussaid. He has respect for the performance of the department heads, who take care of daily schedules and customer management.
Less popular were the corrections of the necessary practical reports for school. But these were also important learning experiences, because not everything in everyday working life works straight away and is always fun.
All five cite their participation in team meetings and small training sessions as special experiences. "They do a lot here at the Citizens' Office to ensure that the team works well together and that there is time to do something to create a good atmosphere and a good working atmosphere alongside the often stressful customer business," says Ilias Beyaz, describing his experiences. "I am very grateful that I was able to complete my annual internship at the Citizens' Office."
The interns remember some special customers during their placement. "But we don't talk about that," smile Abeh Bhasin and Tiffany Dietermann. So the learning units on data protection and dealing with official secrets have also been well received by the trainees.
All five are interested in a future apprenticeship with the city administration. "With their practical achievements, our trainees have shown that they have a lot of potential and we look forward to perhaps meeting them again later as colleagues somewhere in the city administration," says Franziska Reinig. The head of the department is convinced that the young men and women will be successful in their careers. For the coming school year, four new students started their path to the vocational baccalaureate at the Citizens' Office in August.
