She has been in Germany for just seven months, yet she already has a clear plan for her future: Dilshad Arza Mim, 22, is studying International Business Administration at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) in Kamp-Lintfort. After graduating, she hopes to work in human resources or project management and build a long-term career in Germany.
Since August 2026, she has been completing an internship at LINEG. This opportunity is also a success story for STAY2GROW. Dilshad’s experience illustrates the potential international students offer to companies in the wir4 region – when the two sides are given the opportunity to connect.
From Bangladesh To Kamp-Lintfort
Before beginning her studies in Germany, Dilshad had already completed a degree in her home country of Bangladesh. A Deutschlandstipendium (German National Scholarship) gave her the opportunity to start a new chapter in Kamp-Lintfort.
For Dilshad, life in Germany means much more than studying abroad. “I love Germany. It’s safe here. I can live independently, make my own choices and pursue my education,” she explains. She says living in Germany has made her more confident and better able to stand up for herself. Her language skills have also improved remarkably in a short time. In addition to the German courses offered by HSRW, she attends classes at the local adult education centre (Volkshochschule), which she pays for herself.
Her goal is clear: she wants to stay and work in Germany – ideally, in the wir4-region.
First Steps Into The Job Market
However, getting started in the German labour market proved challenging at first. Despite submitting numerous applications, Dilshad was unable to find an internship. That was when she turned to STAY2GROW. The project connects international students at HSRW with companies and other stakeholders across the wir4 region.
At a meeting of the newly established Unternehmernetzwerks für Internationale Fachkräfte (Business Network for International Professionals) , the STAY2GROW team presented Dilshad’s situation to the company representatives in attendance. Kai Köstermann, who works in HR at LINEG, then invited her for a personal interview. Today, he is delighted with his new intern. “She is very ambitious and goal-oriented, while also being very considerate and sensitive to others,” he says. He is particularly impressed by her motivation, noting that the 22-year-old has already learned an enormous amount in just a few weeks. “Dilshad has a level of motivation that we rarely see in young people her age.” LINEG has been successfully working with international HSRW students for years, offering them internships and student jobs, as well as long-term career opportunities afterwards. Köstermann is already thinking about Dilshad’s future with the company, too: “We would be delighted if she returned to us for the six-month mandatory internship that is still part of her degree programme.”
Benefits For Businesses And The Entire wir4-Region
LINEG’s experience shows the significant potential that the HSRW campus in Kamp-Lintfort offers businesses across the wir4 region. In addition to the professional qualifications they acquire through their studies and their multilingual skills, international students bring intercultural competence and, above all, an international perspective. At the same time, internships and student jobs give companies the opportunity to get to know potential future employees at an early stage and provide them with targeted training in relevant areas of the business. An internship can lead to a student job, followed by a thesis project and, ultimately, permanent employment. Step by step, an international talent becomes a skilled professional who puts down roots in the region.
“Her story highlights that securing skilled workers starts long before a permanent employment contract is signed. It begins with reaching out to international talent here in the region and involving them in company operations at an early stage, thereby offering them genuine long-term career prospects. Dilshad and LINEG’s story shows what can grow from these opportunities,” says Beate Träm, Managing Director of wir4 and the person leading the STAY2GROW project. “One company discovers a motivated talent. One student gets an opportunity. And the region gains the prospect of a future skilled professional.”
“These are exactly the kinds of connections STAY2GROW aims to foster,” Träm adds, “so that studying in Kamp-Lintfort can, as often as possible, lead to building a career and a life in the wir4 region.”
