Public Policy Students Reflect on Their Internships: Christina Herrmann at the U.S. Department of Commerce

Christina Herrmann, USA
One-year MAPP candidate, Class of 2015
Commercial Affairs Intern, U.S. Department of Commerce

Herrmann is spending her summer as a commercial affairs intern with the U.S. Department of Commerce at its German headquarters at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. One of the department’s primary responsibilities is to assist American companies interested in exporting to the German market as well as German companies that want to import from the United States.

One of the highlights of her internship was helping a senior colleague prepare for a visit from a business delegation from Las Vegas in July. “We prepared weeks in advance for this visit, and were handed quite a bit of challenging work to make sure that it was successful.” Herrmann says that although it was quite stressful at times, it was also enormously rewarding.

A citizen of both Germany and the United States, Herrmann says that her summer internship has opened her eyes to the variety of job opportunities offered by the U.S. government. She adds, “of course gaining valuable business knowledge is useful for many potential roles in the private sector as well, so that's something I'll definitely try to use to my advantage when I apply for full-time positions in the coming months.” 

When she is not working, Herrmann says she is usually traveling or exploring Berlin. “It’s such a big city that there are always new places to see or things to do here.”