And what was the decisive factor for you to study in Ireland?
One half of my previous degree in international business was in English, and I spent part of the business studies programme in Milton Keynes, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland. I then wanted to go back and spend my entire master's programme in a country where English is the native language. Ireland was ranked high and was more affordable pricewise than the UK (laughs), so Dublin it was.
What was it like for you to suddenly be a student again after years of employment?
Living as a full-time student was new to me. It was odd to spend longer than three months studying and to have to create my own structure. But I thought it was cool to see things from an external perspective again and to learn something outside my field – even if the programme was rather challenging, particularly at the end. Since the programme takes just one year, I didn't fall behind back home in Germany.
Do you only work at the Sindelfingen site, or do you also serve your customers elsewhere?
Many of our internal customers are located in and around Sindelfingen. So we often meet with customers on-site in Vaihingen or Untertürkheim. However, I haven't participated in many on-site meetings so far. I usually take part online.
Do you like the hybrid work model?
I like being able to work remotely, but I actually really enjoy the office. The project team jointly decides how often we want to meet in the office. We meet every other week for our current project, for instance. However, other teams primarily work on-site because it suits them better. Having the flexibility to work where you want to is great, and it saves me the commute at times.
What does your job mean for you and your prospects at Mercedes-Benz?
It is important to me that my work makes sense. I lose interest if I notice that my job doesn't produce anything special. In my current job, I often realise that what we do has a big impact on the company. We support the corporate strategy, clear paths for digitalisation and create new opportunities for the specialist units. And we combine these paths with value. That's fulfilling for me. At the same time, I'm personally responsible for my topics, receive periodic feedback and am thus continuously developing. I enjoy learning a great deal, broadening my horizons and getting up to speed on new topics. There's no better place for me because I'm able to contribute something meaningful along the supply chain each trimester. That also helps generate ever greater awareness of Mercedes-Benz's overall strategy. And in turn, that's valuable for my future career path.
What makes working at Mercedes-Benz special for you?
I think it's awesome to play a part in a product that can later be seen on the road. And Mercedes-Benz Group offers me the chance to go to different units, to learn new things and to prove myself. Theoretically, I can work for this employer my whole life, learn about new topics and, ultimately, not see a single unit twice. That's what makes working at Mercedes-Benz so special for me.
One of your hobbies is astrophotography. Have you taken any particularly lucky shots with your camera?
Funnily enough, that's how I feel about most of my pictures (smirks). At any rate, I've already reached my goal of crafting a particularly stunning picture of the Andromeda Galaxy – the largest body in the night sky. What makes astrophotography challenging is that the pictures are relatively faint and the subject is quickly moving away, so you have to continuously track it with the telescope. It's a hobby for people with patience – things often go wrong and it takes a long time to produce something usable. But I enjoy spending time on my own under the stars – it slows things down and gives you new perspectives. No matter what we consider to be important down here, there's much that exists out there that we don't even know about.
