The past two years have been a challenge for all of us. Whether we were working remotely, studying online or facing each other via video conferences, everything was connected to the digital world. Not only students from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland had to adapt to the new environment, but also the international student project Focus India 2020/21, who had experienced a completely different realization of the project in a virtual format. Thanks to our partners, sponsors and team members, Focus India was able to add value throughout the years and has established strong and crucial relationships in the business world. With our brand-new topic “building trust, integrating technology and acting sustainably” we want to look back and find out what the former team representatives can entrust us with.
Experiences from two points of view
We interviewed two members of the Focus India 2020/21 project – Caroline Binder, a former member of the PR and communications team and Oliver Sommer, former project manager and responsible for Project Coordination and Communication as well as Partnerships.
Why did you choose to apply for the Focus India project last year?
Caroline: My goal was to deepen my knowledge in the field of communication and at the same time gain international experience in an international student project. It was clear from the beginning of my studies that I wanted to be part of the Focus India project.
Oliver: I applied as a project manager of Focus India last year to gain project management experience in the fast-growing business environment of India and to broaden my horizon to a large extent.
What has been your most memorable moment during the preparatory or on-site seminar?
Caroline: We have experienced several wonderful activities. I think I liked the cultural activities the most, although they were the most difficult to organize. We visited temples, danced, cooked, and laughed together – all virtually.
Oliver: The exchange with the Indian students during the preparatory and the on-site seminar was very impressive. Especially getting to know each other’s places of residence and working environments via video conference were interesting.
What would you recommend to the future delegation?
Caroline & Oliver: Be open-minded and fully engage with the project to stay FOCUSed. Unexpected events always turn out to be the best experiences.
Caroline Binder – former member of the PR and communications team
“The best experience of the project was seeing the happy faces after the seminars. That was a very fulfilling moment to see that the preparation and hard work had paid off.” – Caroline Binder
Oliver Sommer – former project manager
How did the project and the outcome add value to your current/future career?
Caroline: Thanks to the Focus India project, I was able to establish my strengths and interests in a professional manner, which helped me a lot to shape my personal career and to find a position in a Fintech Start-up.
Oliver: Through my engagement with Focus India, I was able to get in touch with many different business leaders in Switzerland. I will start my career as an associate in project management at Accenture which has been involved with the Focus India project over many years as a platinum partner.
What do you think about the theme “building trust, integrating technology, acting sustainably” from this years’ project? What synergies do you see between your topic theme and the current one in terms of value contribution?
Caroline: I like the part of building trust very much because trust is an essential impulse for transformation and the creation of new technologies. The establishment of sustainable added value thanks to new high-tech inventions will be present even more in the future.
Oliver: The topic of this years’ project sounds very exciting and can surely provide a wide range of useful findings. Overall, the sustainability aspect has already been highlighted by previous projects and is an omnipresent topic that is definitely worth elaborating further on.
“It was very nice to see that in the end both project seminars – despite COVID circumstances – could be successfully executed. The positive feedback from the participants was another very rewarding aspect for me.” – Oliver Sommer
Focus India would like to take the opportunity to thank Caroline and Oliver for the gripping insights into their personal experiences as team members of Focus India 2020/21 and wishes them all the best for their future careers.
– Written by Stella Bongiovanni