UWO Student interns in Germany!

Amanda Fenske

Assistant Researcher

BMS Marketing Research+ Strategy is a small market research company located in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 1991 by Stefan Binner and has expanded into the European, Asian, and American markets since its foundation.

I was incredibly lucky to have found this internship in Munich. I'd come to Osnabrück, Germany on a Study and Intern Program Scholarship which required me to find an internship the second semester. During my studies the Winter Semester, I had taken a course named "Marktforschung" which translates to "Market Research". Mr. Binner came to teach a Market Research Intensive Training Day for this course, and after the day, I asked him about internship possibilities in Germany. It worked out that I could work for him starting in February.

I am happy to be working for a smaller company because I can help see an entire project through. I will be able to understand and be involved in all the steps that a market research project endures. By the end of my internship, I hope to feel confident in choosing which methods, what sample size, and what type of interview delivery should be used for specific objectives and then be able to summarize the results and draw conclusions from the outcome of the studies.

Since I have been here, I've assisted project managers on a few of our projects for clients. Working for an international firm means having to cope with many languages, and although I speak English in the office, I have had to code open-ended responses in German, French, and Spanish for analysis. I've helped create English versions of questionnaires and am learning how to program them on the SSI web for Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI).

QBA was definitely a very helpful class for this internship since Excel is always in use. I am also becoming familiar with the SPSS analysis program. I enjoy the fact that I continually learn something new on the job and can develop and put to use the skills I've learned in class.