The numerous practical projects shaped alumna Hanin Al-Humeidi’s bachelor’s degree in B.A. Journalismus und Unternehmenskommunikation (B.A. Journalism and Corporate Communication, German only) at the Frankfurt campus. After graduating, she made the leap to ZDF, where she worked as a presenter for TikTok and Instagram. In an interview, she told us how she managed that and what memories she still has of her university.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the Media University?
The practical projects and the excursions, which I enjoyed a lot and would not have been possible without the university’s network. There were no limits to creativity – you were allowed to try things out, get better and grow with constructive criticism. I particularly liked the fact that you were not just a matriculation number, you could actually always turn to someone.
Which project do you remember best?
It’s hard to say, because every single project was special in and of itself. What springs to mind when asked this question is the AI project, or rather the multimedia report that we were able to do with Prof. Dr. Gußmann in collaboration with the Frankfurter Rundschau. It was just such a surreal experience to have a huge newspaper article in the FR at the end of the project, printed with your own name – and on such an impressive and future-oriented topic as artificial intelligence. But I also don’t want to leave unmentioned the practical project for the “Influencer Marketing” seminar. As part of that, we were also allowed to go to the Berlin Fashion Week. That was pretty cool too.
Where did you do your internship in your fifth semester? What did you learn there?
I did my internship at the BILD newspaper in Frankfurt. I made a conscious decision to do it there and not at another company because I wanted to look behind the scenes and see what makes the company so successful. Especially since everyone has an opinion about this medium and I wanted to see for myself (sorry for the random pun). I took so many impressions with me – I was particularly surprised by the amount of trust that was placed in me. I was actually allowed to do everything like a real editor, to implement every suitable topic and thus collected a great many work samples. I learned how to write texts precisely and concisely, how to bring emotions into the lines I write – but also that it can of course be very demanding to do justice to the stories for such a well-known newspaper.
You now work for the ZDF Info Instagram channel. How did that come about? What do you do there?
It was a mixture of good timing, luck and initiative. After my bachelor’s degree, I spent a long time looking for jobs and then applied online to several job ads. Fortunately, my application arrived at exactly the same time as ZDFinfo and the company ZDFdigital were looking for someone. I am currently a presenter for Tiktok and can be seen in the Instagram stories. I also write and create content for the Facebook and Instagram feeds. I dedicate myself to the appropriate topics that I suggested during brainstorming. I research, write and create content from start to finish. We have our first-class design team to thank for the visual magic on the platforms.
What advice would you give to new students?
I would advise students to always approach new projects, challenges or jobs with confidence. Never think, “They won’t take me anyway” or that you can’t do something. During your studies at the Media University, you can collect great work samples and network very well. You should definitely take advantage of that! You don’t have to be perfect and function perfectly from the start. But you shouldn’t be too timid and overthink everything. Instead, you should just do it with “healthy naivety” and a dash of self-confidence. If in the end it still doesn’t work out the way you imagined, then somewhere else a new door will always open with new opportunities – I can say that from experience. Good luck!
Hanin is now taking on a new challenge in the field of social media and has already moved to another company. We are very happy for her and wish her continued success! Thanks for the great interview!
