Before applying to hahn,consultants , I obtained a diploma in business administration from the University of Cologne. My focus areas were controlling, corporate development and business psychology. While studying, I completed several internships related to the topics of my studies, including six months in Oslo in the corporate controlling department of a software company.

An important factor for me when choosing my employer was that it is not an office job where you already know at the beginning of the month what is going to happen for the rest of the month. For me, this also means that there are constantly new challenges awaiting you. Of course the consulting industry is one of the perfect fields for that. At the same time, I also got to know one of the ‘Big Four’ firms in consulting and realised that it did not align with my understanding of meaningful work. I found the projects to be rather insignificant in the overall picture of the group, so that the actual impact was missing for me. So I first had a look around at the medium-sized management consultancy firms with a focus on finance. In the process, the way hahn,consultants sees itself and its range of clients seemed to me to be just the right mix of constantly meeting new challenges and actually having an influence at the client.

The selection process was actually very fast and very personal. There was a positive and pleasant atmosphere throughout all the meetings and a decision was made within a few days.

During the first few days, I immediately took notice of the relaxed and easy-going spirit in the interaction between the employees and supervisors. Everyone’s door was open for questions or a conversation about settling in. Of course, the project work already started on the first day, and at the same time, the new employees were given further training on workflow and hahn,consultants’ approach to consulting. I was assigned a mentor with whom I worked directly on joint projects and who lent me his full support on any questions I had about the field and beyond.

For me, the biggest challenge and at the same time the most exciting thing is that the tasks and the issues we have to face are different every day. As an operative project manager, I work alongside several clients at the same time on very different tasks and objectives. The spectrum of projects ranges from the development and implementation of a restructuring concept with discussions with banks, a social plan and the restructuring of the sales organisation to the complete sales process of a company in the context of the succession of shareholders. I gain particular satisfaction from projects that bring about lasting change in a company over a period of one to two years and where all those involved can clearly see how the concept is turning into reality.
One thing that all challenges have in common is that within a short period of time you experience a wide variety of situations that companies and entrepreneurs have to deal with, which inevitably results in a steep learning curve.
Being part of the management team, I also have the task of further developing the company hahn,consultants. This includes employee training, cultivating our professional network and regular strategy meetings.

Each project introduces you to different facets of consulting. Whether it is an over-indebted entrepreneur for whom we have used a clever investor solution to create future prospects for his company and, above all, for him, or a renowned medium-sized company from the automotive sector that wants to bring a product innovation to the market and needs support in doing so.
That being said, the real highlights for me are the projects in which we accompany the entrepreneurs through various phases over a period of years and where you can see how initial ideas develop into measures that are then implemented bit by bit (or perhaps they are not).

From the very first day, daily support is provided by your mentor as well as by every other employee. As a matter of principle, everyone in the company can always approach their colleagues with any questions they may have and they will receive all the help they need to succeed in their tasks.
On top of that, in addition to the introductory training on the basic understanding of consulting and the tools employed by hahn,consultants, there is also an annual training budget allocated in the first few weeks to promote personal development, both professionally and in terms of soft skills.

As I see it, the corporate culture at hahn,consultants is what sets it apart. The cohesion, the openness and the numerous points in common make the work much easier and more pleasant. This culture is also further reinforced by engaging in joint activities in our free time, be it kicking around a ball atSoccerworld, go-karting, celebrating together and taking part in the many events such as the Christmas party, Christmas brunch, carnival in Cologne, etc. This is probably also the reason why the length of service at our company is significantly longer than at most other consulting firms.

Personally, I find a balance through sports and seeing friends. Two or three times a week I go to CrossFit after or before work and burn off some energy. Sometimes we also play football with some colleagues and go for a run in the forest after work. It is very important to me to keep in touch with people, so I often use the evenings and weekends to meet up with friends, go out celebrating and go on short trips to other cities, which allows me to relax and unwind outside of work. Since almost all of our clients come from the region and given that I live in the place where I work, I also get to enjoy a social life during the week.