AIESEC DHL Internship Programme

About DHL

DHL is the world’s largest multinational logistics company, headquartered in Bonn, Germany and Oslo, Norway. The company was built in 1969 and its name was inspired by the initials of the last names of its founders: Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn. DHL currently employs approximately 285,000 people and has operations running in more than 220 countries around the world.

Photo: @purzlbaum on unsplash

The founding of DHL represented the creation of a new sector of industry: international air express service – rapid transport of documents and cargo papers by plane. In 1971, DHL started to expand its network in the Far East and in the Pacific Rim. It also began to offer services in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia in 1972 and later in Europe (1974), Latin America (1977), as well as the Middle East and Africa (1978).

In 1979, DHL added parcel delivery to its list of services. Prior to this time, the company only offered delivery of documents. Seven years later, DHL entered into a joint venture with the People’s Republic of China – making it the first express company to operate inside of China.

A partnership between Deutsch Post and DHL International began in 1998 when Deutsch Post acquired a minority interest of the DHL. The partnership then expanded and intensified in 2000. Negotiations were then concluded allowing Deutsch Post to establish a majority interest. At the time, DHL had more than 71,000 employees worldwide. Since 2003, DHL has been operating under the Deutsche Post DHL Group, a company that focuses on being the first choice for customers, employees and investors in its core business activities worldwide. Deutsche Post DHL makes a positive contribution to the world by connecting people and enabling global trade while being committed to responsible business practices, purposeful environmental activities and corporate citizenship.

Deutsch Post bundles its entire express and logistics business under the DHL brand. On April 1, 2003, the Group began re-branding some 20,000 parcel delivery vans throughout Germany in the new DHL design. This new, internationally renowned DHL brand underscores the Group’s evolution into a global player.

DHL runs with a number of industry sectors including automotive, chemicals, consumer, energy, engineering and manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, the public sector, retail, and technology. The DHL family is composed of independent divisions that are connected by the same core values, principle, and a common management approach. This way, the company of specialised Business Units can offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics products and solutions ranging from domestic and international parcel delivery to international express, road, air, and ocean freight to end-to-end supply chain management. The following are the divisions in the DHL family.

• DHL Express

This division provides international door-to-door express pick-up and delivery services of parcels and documents for business customers. Deutsch Post owns five airline subsidiaries operating for DHL Express, operating 96 aircraft and another 21 aircraft on orders, which are collectively referred to as DHL Aviation. DHL Express is an equal partner in a sixth airline that operates for DHL Express:

• Blue Dart Aviation in Chennai, India – provides services for Indian destinations from Chennai International Airport
• DHL Aero Expreso in Panama City, Panama – provides services for destinations in Central and South America
• DHL Air UK in Hounslow, United Kingdom – provides services for European destinations from East Midlands Airport
• European Air Transport in Leipzig, Germany – provides services for European destinations from Leipzig/Halle Airport
• AeroLogic (joint venture with Lufthansa) in Schkeuditz, Germany – provides services from Europe to central and eastern Asian destinations from Leipzig/Halle Airport and Frankfurt Airport
• SNAS/DHL in Bahrain – provides services for Middle East destinations from Bahrain International Airport
• DHL Global Forwarding

Formerly known as DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, the DHL Global Forwarding provides air and ocean freight forwarding services. It carries goods by rail, road, air and sea under the DHL brand and includes the DHL Freight operation which runs a ground-based freight network covering Europe, Russia and traffic into the Middle East.

• DHL Supply Chain

In this business, DHL provides contract logistics solutions along the entire supply chain for customers from a wide variety of sectors. In 2016, DHL Supply Chain was primarily competing in strategic Life Sciences & Healthcare, Automotive and Technology sectors of the market.

• DHL e-Commerce

This division helps make transactions quicker and easier around the entire business by providing online services for business customers and consumers all around the world.

• DHL Parcel

The DHL Parcel provides standard domestic and international parcel pick-up, delivery and return services for business customers, as well as consumers in selected geographies.

• DHL Freight

This division provides road and rail freight services across Europe, parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), North Africa and the Middle East. Together with DHL Global Forwarding, it forms Deutsch Post’s Freight / Forwarding business division.

Career opportunities within Deutsch Post DHL Group are as diverse as its teams around the world. They offer a wide range of jobs that can improve their employees’ lives. The company also provides students and graduates various opportunities to join projects, master demanding challenges and assume responsibility. As part of the people’s development, DHL provides plenty of opportunities to develop skills and gain knowledge and experience in the form of divisional leadership programmes and functional training curricula that are offered across all its business units to cater people to specific development needs. Some of the different training and development opportunities provided cover for example different relevant operational knowledge and skills training, health and safety training, language courses or soft skills trainings. On-the-job trainings are available as internships and graduate programmes at DHL.

AIESEC Internship Programme at DHL

AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. It is a non-political, independent, non-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Since 1996, DHL has been partnering with AIESEC to offer undergraduates and master’s degree students the chance to do 6-12 month developmental internships at their corporate divisions around the world. In the programme, they offer real experience on complex projects and the chance to gain the sort of skills required by global organisations to the interns.

Eligibility Requirements for the AIESEC DHL Internship 

The necessary qualifications for an internship in the AIESEC programme mostly depend on what the department offering the position needs. Each position has specific requirements, thus those who are interested in attending the internship will need to read the job requirements carefully before applying. The general requirements which apply to all positions are as listed below.

• Above average grades
• To be enrolled in bachelor or master studies
• Proficient in English
• Exceptional knowledge of MS Office
• First-hand practical experience
• Good analytical skills and swift perception
• Independent and goal-oriented work
• Ability to work proactively in a team, the drive to generate results and a can-do attitude

How to Apply for the AIESEC DHL Internship Programme 

All internship opportunities offered by Deutsch Post DHL Group are posted on the global AIESEC internship website. Those interested can apply for the available opportunities on this website.

Candidates will be subject for an interview with the hiring manager after being shortlisted. Subsequently, the selected candidates will be guided through an on-boarding process in order to enable the candidate to meet all legal requirements and travel to the respective destination of their internship. At the end of the selection process, selected candidates will sign a contract and start the internship programme at the respective DHL office.