Intern Abroad

©Victoria Jun

• Construction Engineering B.Sc.
• Liechtenstein
• Hilti
• 01.05.-31.12.2020

After a month of postponing the start of my internship due to Corona, I started it abroad in May 2020 in the Lean/ Smart Factory department at Hilti in Liechtenstein. I can spoiler that I really had a very cool time down there and. Quick info: Liechtenstein is the small country between Switzerland and Austria, not to be confused with Luxembourg 😀 Many thought I was there.

I applied quite normally via the job postings on the website. Since the group is very international and they have a very big intern culture, you can find postings there in many countries and in different divisions. I chose the headquarters in Liechtenstein. So you work in Liechtenstein, but you have to live in Austria or Switzerland. However, getting to Liechtenstein is not a problem, there are regional trains and buses.

The duration for processing the application is not too long and usually includes 2 interviews, with the HR department and with the head of the department. Once you have been accepted, the HR department is very helpful with all questions you ask them, be it contractual and organizational things for the internship or general information. You are added to a Facebook group where apartments or shared rooms are posted when someone has finished their internship, and there is also a WhatsApp group where interns exchange ideas and plan activities together during lunch break, after work or on the weekend. So you’re definitely not alone.

My day-to-day office life was very diverse and also very practical. The overall company organization is located at the headquarters, as well as a production line and a large R&D center. So you can get to know a lot of different areas and, at the beginning, you’re also given a tour of the entire site and production. I also worked partly in the home office, but that’s not a problem because you’re provided with a laptop and you communicate with your colleagues via teams and make phone calls. The company is very international, if you work outside of production, everyone speaks English and you can work with different national backgrounds.

When you work in Liechtenstein, most people live in Feldkirch in Austria or Buchs in Switzerland. It’s up to everyone to decide what they prefer, although of course it’s a bit cheaper to live in Austria.

From both places it takes approx. 15-20 min by train to Liechtenstein. Hilti itself has its own train station. If you can’t find an apartment in the Facebook group, you can also search for flat-shares and apartments via WG-gesucht. That’s also how I found my WG.

I already mentioned that there are trains and buses to Liechtenstein. In the province of Voralberg, which borders Liechtenstein, they sell a train ticket that is valid for the whole province, including Liechtenstein. It is available as a yearly subscription and costs only 100€ when applying for the first time and showing a driver’s license. This is really super cheap and helps with the daily trips to the office or the trips to Lake Constance or the mountains on the weekends. You can easily buy it at the mobility office in Feldkirch.

In general, the region down there offers lots of opportunities to keep busy after work. Lake Constance is very attractive for swimming, stand up paddling or getting to know different cities. The mountains, both on the Swiss side and in Austria invite you to many hikes. There is something for every level of difficulty: relaxed walks, longer summit tours or climbing routes can be mastered there. If you want to make a trip to the city, Innsbruck, Zurich or Munich are only 2 hours away by car or train. So there should be something for everyone. Since I was there during Corona, clubs and parties were closed, which is why I cannot say much about it. But they exist 😀

All in all, I can 100% recommend internships at Hilti and in the area! The company is very innovative and you get to know many different people and the daily work routine. The nature and the surroundings down there invite you to go on many different tours on the weekends. The intern community is really big, so you’re never alone and quickly find friends. By the way, you meet many employees who also studied at RWTH.

I hope my report could support you in your decision, and if you have any further questions about Austria, Liechtenstein, Hilti or other companies in Liechtenstein or Voralberg, feel free to contact me (via Shari Uszynski). There are a lot of great companies in the region down there.