From India to Grafenrheinfeld’s SAP world: Indian student Gangatharan Kannan has dared to take this step. He is 27 years old and comes from India. After completing his bachelor’s programme at the Faculty of Business and Engineering of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS), he applied for a trainee programme at FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH (FIS) in Grafenrheinfeld. Meanwhile, he is working there as an SAP consultant. Since September 2020, a cooperation has been existing between FHWS and FIS, which focuses on professional exchange with regard to degree theses and project work in addition to sponsoring the FIS-SAP Laboratory.
Having listened to numerous positive experiences shared by friends in his home country who studied in Germany, Gangatharan decided to study here as well. Due to an even balance between theory and practice, he chose Logistics as his degree programme at FHWS. Afterwards, preparations had to be made: “After I had decided to go to Germany for studying, I took a six-month German language course at “Goethe Institute” and a three-month pre-study internship in India,” Gangatharan reports. Having arrived in Germany, he had to get used to German culture, local dialects and bureaucracy. In spite of the challenges he faced at the beginning, Gangatharan was determined to start a career in Germany. “During my bachelor’s programme, I had the chance to learn the SAP basics of different modules. I like this topic and so I decided to look for career opportunities in the SAP world,” he recalls.
Meanwhile, he has completed his six-month trainee programme and is working on SAP customer projects with his colleagues. Due to his own experiences, he knows what it takes to find a job in Germany: “I think that language skills are very important. The better you speak a national language, the more opportunities will open up for you. And it is essential to show your commitment to finding a job.”
FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH
FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH is an independent enterprise with more than 800 employees within the company group. FIS is a one-stop provider for SAP projects and, as an SAP partner with “Gold” status, promotes digitization within companies by developing efficient solutions.
International FHWS
The University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt focuses on internationalization and has been welcoming international students from more than 80 countries for more than 30 years. In addition to exchange programs with partner universities, where students attend FHWS for one or two semesters, there are more and more full-time students, who spend their entire period of study at FHWS. An interdisciplinary and wide range of degree programs that are simultaneously taught in English as “TWIN Programs” is one of the reasons for their strong international demand. Germany as an attractive business location makes numerous international students want to start a career in this country after completing their studies.
Photo: from left to right: Michael Eibisch (Team Manager Human Resources) and Gangatharan Kannan in front of the FIS building. Photographer: Oliver Lintl
