From the time my visa application got declined to me sitting at the Hugo Boss headquarter in Metzingen, Germany, my life was set on a rollercoaster over the past 2 months. Now here is my story of the whole thing....started from the bottom:
I applied for the position at the end of March, 2017...it was a Thursday, and I actually saw this opportunity in an Email sent from VelvetJobs, a job opportunity website which requires a subscription fee to disclose the job description and job apply function. But I didn't pay it, instead, I went directly on the Hugo Boss website and searched for the position, and submitted my application there. (Complicated, eh?)
I heard back from the HR just 3 days after submitting my application and got my interview arranged the beginning of April. I did my interview with 2 design managers from Hugo Boss, considering the time difference, the interview started at 9AM in Calgary time, 5PM in Germany, and it lasted for about an hour. Literally, I prepared for the interview for a week while I was still taking classes at school.
I heard back from the HR again a month after the interview (In May), informing me that I was offered the position, and I was so stoked. It was right after the grad portfolio show. I received the contract from the HR a week later, and after signing it, I started to prepare for my visa application.
I booked my flight 10 days before the visa appointment at German Consulate Toronto and the air ticket literally costed me about $1,000, travelling from Calgary to Toronto. And by the time I presented myself at the appointment, the visa officer declined my application for some reasons, so sadly I went back to Calgary with nothing......literally nothing....it was like falling right from the heaven down to the hell.
Over the past two months, I've undergone one of the hardest moments in my life. Finally I cheered myself up and looked for help and support from the Federal Government of Canada. Thankfully, it is the Hugo Boss opportunity that got the government's attention and they have done their very best in saving this great opportunity from being wasted. Eventually, I got my youth mobility visa issued at the end of July and I got my flight booked on August 8.
I arrived in Metzingen, Germany on August 9, transferring from Frankfurt and Stuttgart. And the next day after arrival, I applied for Anmeldung (Residence Certificate) at the Rathaus (City Hall). Actually, I had to go through a lot of paperworks in order to legally work in Germany. Before I came to Germany, I did a little research on all of these things, learning that German bureaucracy has come to be the hardest for foreigners like me. But fortunately, things are quite a lot easier in such small town Metzingen, so everything went pretty okay so far. Plus the German efficiency, they were at their best to get my paperworks done. (Send me an email if you wanna know more details)
August 15 was my first day at Hugo Boss, and among all those new people welcomed by the HR on that day, I was the only non-German person and the only non-European person, which was a little awkward. Since it is the first week, I don't have many big projects coming in, but I already enjoyed working here as a part of the Hugo Boss family.