What became of...?

Personnel management and strategy as well as recruiting and personnel marketing are among the activities of our graduate Tim Breidenbach, who works as an HR Director at OTTO QUAST Bau AG. In his function, you should be able to move emphatically and authentically in the different hierarchy levels, he tells us.

What is your job title and the occupational field in which you work?

I am the HR Director at OTTO QUAST Bau AG.

How long have you been doing this job?

Since 01.05.2022. Before that I also worked in the HR department in various functions.

What activities do you perform?

Personnel management, personnel strategy, recruiting, personnel marketing.

What do you particularly like about it?

I particularly like working in a motivated team, having a direct line to the entrepreneurial family and realising great construction projects.

What are the most important skills one should have for your profession?

An inner compass with a sense of values that matches the employer helps. You should be able to move emphatically and authentically through the different hierarchical levels. And you have to like people.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

As a rule, 60-70 per cent of my working hours are blocked with appointments. Many of these fixed appointments are self-determined, but staff interviews, meeting rounds and routines, conceptual work or job interviews also take up a lot of time. The remaining time is taken up by day-to-day business all by itself.

Kristy Hissa works as Vice President of Operations for the FinTech software company Agreement Express in Toronto, Canada. There, she oversees all company processes, including marketing, product management, customer success and client delivery (project implementations). "In the Operations role, you need to have an overview of everything that is happening in the company, while also having an eye for where deeper insight is needed to ensure that all company goals are met or exceeded within the planned timeframe," she tells us in the interview:

What is your job title and the occupational field you work in?

I work as Vice President of Operations for a FinTech software company called Agreement Express (with head office in Vancouver).

How long have you been doing this job?

I started at the company in 2017 in sales and have moved up since then.

What activities do you perform?

I oversee all company processes, including Marketing, Product Management, Customer Success and Client Delivery (Project Implementations).

What do you like most about it?

The versatility of the scope of duties in Operations. Being both a mentor and mentee and never stopping to learn new things and take on new challenges. Growing with the Executive Board (Private Equity) and having further opportunities to be used in different companies of the same group with my expertise.

What are the most important skills to have for your job?

Being able to apply concepts and ask strategic questions to make decisions that go beyond your own technical knowledge.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

A typical working day is extremely varied. In Operations, you need an overview of everything that is happening in the company and at the same time you need to have an eye for where a deeper insight is needed to ensure that all company goals are met or exceeded in the planned timeframe. This means that at least once a week I am faced with a problem that is beyond my own technical knowledge or other expertise, and I have to skillfully cooperate with my team and other teams in a strength-focused way so that we can achieve the common goal without detours. Accordingly, my week includes numerous meetings, either 1:1 or group meetings, either planning for larger strategic projects or moving directly to applied "problem solving".

This week's presentation of occupational fields is about sales. Our graduate Volker Küpper works as a Senior Key Account Manager in Sales Germany at Beiersdorf AG. There, he conducts negotiations and talks with customers from the food retail and discount sectors, among other things, and takes care of the distribution of Beiersdorf products. He particularly likes the hands-on mentality in his job.

What is your job title and the occupational field in which you work?

I am a Senior Key Account Manager in Sales Germany at Beiersdorf AG.

How long have you been working in this field?

I have been working in this field for 1.5 years. Before that, I worked as a manager in the Corporate Strategy department at Beiersdorf AG headquarters for just under 3 years.

What kind of work do you do?

In sales in food retail and discount stores, I conduct customer negotiations and annual meetings and take care of the distribution of Beiersdorf products (e.g. NIVEA, Hidrofugal, 8x4, Florena, Skin Stories). I also ensure listing and product distribution and take care of action planning.

What do you particularly like about it?

I particularly like the strong hands-on mentality in my job and the pragmatic way of working. You can constantly see that your daily efforts have an immediate and successful impact on customer sales and that your hard work pays off. Moreover, you grow every day with new and unpredictable situations. Negotiating at the highest level shapes you positively for life.

What are the most important skills one should have for your profession?

You should enjoy a healthy hands-on mentality and have a structured way of working. A certain degree of tenacity and an understanding of a profit and loss account should also not be lacking. You should also enjoy working with people and have a customer-oriented mindset.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

At the beginning of my working day, I check the daily turnover. After that, I meet with my team for a check-in, call clients and go through open issues until I move on to work on very high priority issues. After lunch, I start working through the day's business before meetings in the afternoon. Then I slowly come to the end, close the day's business and celebrate the daily successes.

As Global Sourcing Manager for Bayer AG, our graduate Christoph Nobis is responsible for ensuring production at the company's sites around the world. He particularly likes the fact that his job is very international, as he works with a wide variety of people from different countries every day.

What is your job title and the occupational field in which you work?
I work as Global Sourcing Manager Fungicides in direct materials purchasing at Bayer AG.

How long have you been working in this field?
I have been working in purchasing since the beginning of 2010 in a wide variety of areas (at Henkel and Bayer). I have been in my current position for about 2.5 years.

What kind of work do you do?
I work in purchasing for direct materials for Bayer CropScience. We make sure that our worldwide production sites are supplied with the most important raw materials and intermediates to ensure continuous production.

What do you particularly like about it?
The work in direct purchasing is very international. The production sites are spread all over the world, and you work with an international team and suppliers from many different countries every day. Especially the last 2.5 years have been tough on the global supply chains. No day is like the other and you constantly have to face new challenges. It never gets boring.

What are the most important skills one should have for your job?
You should have very good communication skills and be able to work with people from different countries. It is important to be able to find pragmatic and quick solutions. Negotiation skills are of course also valuable in purchasing. Furthermore, you have to be able to take responsibility, because the right decision at the right time can bring a lot to the company, but the wrong decision can also cost a lot of money very quickly.

What does a typical working day look like for you?
I don't have a classic, recurring workday; there are always new challenges to solve. Basically, my working day consists of many video conferences with colleagues from different functions in the company but also suppliers. That wasn't necessarily different before Corona, but you spent more time in meeting rooms. My day usually starts with coordination with my purchasing colleagues in China and India. Most of my suppliers are also based in Asia. Around lunchtime, I usually find time to prepare things before meetings with colleagues in the USA in the early afternoon. My working day is very flexible and I can organise my own working hours.

Mareike Tost works in SAP consulting as a senior consultant in the area of finance. There she advises and supports clients during the introduction or conversion to SAP and during technical system changes. It helps her that she previously worked for several years in different positions in the area of accounting and taxation.

What is your job title and the occupational field in which you work?

I work in consulting, to be precise, in SAP consulting (software consulting). Here I am a senior consultant in the area of finance (especially group reporting).

How long have you been working in this field?

I switched to consulting a year ago. Before that I worked for several years in different positions in accounting and taxes.

What kind of work do you do?

I advise clients on the introduction or conversion to SAP S/4HANA, accompany SAP implementation programmes or support clients, for example, with technical carve-outs (system changes). In this context, my activities include process mapping and process consulting, conducting SAP training, SAP customising in the area of finance and group reporting.

What do you particularly like about it?

That it never gets boring, because every customer requirement is different and every customer struggles with different challenges. Above all, because of my years of experience in accounting, I can advise not only technically but also professionally. SAP is so complex and comprehensive that you will never be able to do everything. You actually learn something new every day.

What are the most important skills you should have for your job?

A quick grasp, understanding of processes, organisational strength, strong communication skills, a basically good technical understanding and also some empathy.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

There is actually no such thing. Depending on how involved I am in projects, I have full-day workshops with customers on some days. These can consist of training sessions in which I explain to SAP users how they can map their processes in S/4HANA as part of SAP implementation projects. Or I take actual processes to be able to determine whether, for example, the SAP standard process could fit the current actual process. Sometimes we also talk about possibilities of how certain planned processes could be implemented. Of course, this also includes the corresponding adjustment of the required basic settings (customising) in the system and the implementation of system tests in cooperation with the customer.

Katrin Werres works at the interface of technology, marketing and sales as Head of Measurement at Google UK. There she leads a team of 15 product specialists. Together with her team, she supports international companies in optimising the effectiveness of their advertising measures in the long term so that long-term business success and growth can be realised.

What is your job title and the occupational field in which you work?
I work as Head of Measurement at Google UK. My occupational field is in technology, marketing & sales.

How long have you been working in this field?
I have been with Google for over 11 years; I started my current role in February 2021.

What kind of work do you do?
As Head of Measurement, I lead a team of 15 product specialists in Google's Global Business Organisation. We advise international companies on media effectiveness. We support our clients in optimising the effectiveness of their advertising measures so that long-term business success and growth can be realised. My team is also the link between our internal product development and the sales team, which is very exciting.

What do you like most about it?
The variety and diversity as well as the constant innovation make my job very exciting. But most important of all is working with my great colleagues, many of whom have become close friends over the years.

What are the most important skills to have for your job?

Strategic as well as analytical thinking are important, but in our industry, above all, good communication, the ability to work in a team and adaptability to new topics, structures and changing customer needs are indispensable.

What does a typical working day look like for you?
Every day is a little different, but usually it's a mix of advising clients, working on strategy, developing my staff and working on projects with colleagues, some of them from all over the world.