After I graduated in Business Administration, majoring in marketing, organisation and human resources in Münster, I started with h,c right away. Since the opening of our office here in Hanover on 01/04/2007, I have worked here, and have thereby also coincidentally returned close to my old home, the Schaumburger Land. I am one of the many home-grown talents we have at hahn,consultants, but by no means the most senior of my colleagues. Most of my current skills in consulting were acquired during my professional development on the job. The field of restructuring consulting, in particular, is so specialised that no one who starts with us brings with them all the skills needed in this field (neither professionally nor in the essential soft  skills). Overall, I was positively surprised at the time by how many of my business administration subjects were also relevant in our daily work. To this, a lot of specialised knowledge is added, which one only gains over time. For this reason, it is h,c policy to keep talent in the company for the long term because a lot has been invested in them.

At the time, it was still quite classic to see a job offer in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. But of course, a lot has changed in this area in the meantime. Something that has remained virtually unchanged at h,c in all my time here is the selection process. I also underwent two interviews at the time, during which I got to know all the managing directors, and I worked the same case by means of which all our applicants have to demonstrate their method of working as well as their analytical skills.

My first day was a long time agonow, but I can still remember the wonderful reception from all the colleagues who were then still in the old office space in Haan. I was very warmly greeted and welcomed by the colleagues, so that I immediately felt part of the team. It probably also helped that I did not start alone, but with three other young colleagues. We could share our first experiences and impressions with each other.
Of course, work on the projects also started immediately, and my first projects were in Lower Saxony then, as I had come here right at the opening of our new offices in Hanover with two experienced colleagues. This was an amazing experience for me personally and also a chance to experience and be part of building up the new office right from the start.

Naturally, over the years, my work and my tasks have changed and expanded during my development from a (junior) consultant to senior partner today. At the beginning of my activities at h,c - which is already 15 years ago - I worked independently on defined tasks and work packages with project work and then passed it on to the project manager; now, I carry the responsibility for a project myself. Part of this is the internal project management of the team members, the coordination of overreaching topics with the clients themselves, but also with other stakeholders of the company such as finance partners, the employees/the industrial council/the trade union, customers and suppliers, etc., as well as possible further consultants of the company such as specialist lawyers and tax consultants.
Over the years, the tasks for the expansion of our company have also grown. Since I was made a partner, I have been a member of the managment team, in  which our own strategic alignment is discussed and agreed on. Naturally, maintaining contact with existing network partners and the development of new contacts has become more and more important during my time here.

Oh, I find it very difficult to pick out specific highlights after more than 15 years working here. There were just too many of them. I think that what is so special about this job is that it is still so varied and exciting after all these years. No consultancy project is like another: the company cultures thatyou get to work with are always different; up to today, I still learn about industries that were virtually unknown to me; the issues that companies battle with are normally very unique, so that there is often no standard solution with which the objective can be achieved and, of course, the numerous different personalities that one gets to meet and who you have to deal with. In doing so, we essentially work with the central decision-makers of our SME clients, in particular the managing directors, who are often also the owners.
In addition, it certainly is a highlight that we assist businesses and entrepreneurs in overcoming their problems not only conceptually but also in the implementation of specified measures and that we can, in this way, also regularly experience the results of our own work. Then, when you leave a business after successful implementation, one cannot help feeling some pride. Of course, not every project has the desired result, and sometimes one has invested a lot personally, but for me, the positive experiences and results clearly outweigh the negative ones. I have been advising one client for over 14 years now with varying intensity, depending on the client’s needs. Next to multiple short-term consultancies over 1 to 2 years, it is also something special when you work successfully with a company for so long and still remain the contact person for changing scenarios, even when the actual problems in the project are completely different from those of 14 years ago. I also find the work with SMEs particularly significant. Because our clients are often also the managing directors and the owners of the businesses, we do not only have the responsibility for the business but also for the the entrepreneur/s personally.

Individually - with respect to professional knowledge as well as soft skills! Every employee here brings with them their own individual requirements, both in the professional as well as in the personal sphere. In the half-yearly staff appraisals, there is an open feedback discussion during which we jointly look at what development potential an employee has and how it can be utilised. No one has started with us as a complete holistic business development consultant. I studied classic business administration at the University of Münster. In my case, for example, I had to familiarise myself with legal topics. A colleague who is a business lawyer needed training in controlling, and the need for further training and development never ends. One has to stay up to date professionally and can always learn something again from every completed project as well as from external training and further education, which we attend regularly and for which there is a fixed budget for each employee.

A former colleague liked to say that he spends more time with us than with his wife. There is certainly some truth to that. It has always been important to h,c to ensure that the chemistry amongst colleagues works, more so in our smaller team here in Hanover. Therefore, when appointing somebody, we look at whether the person fits into our team and our company culture, in addition to looking at their professional and personal skills. Working on projects that are sometimes so critical that the company’s survival and the preservation of jobs are at stake, is only possible in a team. If time pressure is added to this and the workload at times becomes very high, I am always amazed at how everyone pulls together, how colleagues support each other and how one is always asked whether one needs any assistance. This occurs independently from the actual hierarchical level the colleagues are on.  
Naturally, h,c tries to promote this cohesion. We have an annual inter-office celebration, and every few years a teambuildingandincentive weekend is organised. The last time, for example, we all spent a long weekend on Ibiza.
Our success regarding this so far has proven us right. For a consultancy, we have a rather low turnover; many of the current partners have been with the company much longer than I have. This would not be possible without the proper cohesion in the team. 

In our profession, it is very important to find a balance in one’s work life. Although our work is mainly done here in the region, which means that we, in comparison to many other consultants, can sleep in our own beds at night, project work has very intensive periods and the high responsibility associated with the projects, where everything is on the line for the company, its owners and the employees, brings with it a high amount of stress. For myself, I find my balance mostly in my family with my two little girls. Despite this, I still enjoy exploring the world and go to concerts and rock festivals with my wife, and I  enjoy good food and a drink. I probably won’t start a big sporting career anymore, but I enjoy dancing,, skiing and am a passive sportsman, especially when I watch games by FC Bayern.