Graduate interview: Tilman - Employee in corporate strategy and internal communication
02/08/2024After completing his studies, Tilman applied for a job at an E.ON subsidiary in Hamburg, where he works in corporate strategy and internal communications. During the selection process, he realised that personality is often more important than technical knowledge. Working in various teams and skills from his studies, such as analytical and structured thinking, help him a lot. His tip: refer applications precisely to the job advert, practise interviews and show passion during the process.
What did you study at the University of Würzburg?
I studied Classical Studies for my Bachelor's degree before completing my Master's degree in Philosophy, Religion and Theology.
What is your current job?
After working in corporate strategy and internal communications for a while and working in a mixed team with graduates from the fields of journalism, history, philosophy, psychology and business studies, I am currently working in the sales team.
Which company/employer do you work for?
I work for a subsidiary of E.ON in Hamburg.
What are your tasks?
The tasks vary depending on the placement. At the moment, I support communication with associations and take on individual tasks in connection with legal working groups. As part of my work, I have also been able to support a number of conceptual tasks in the strategy department and I am involved in association sport.
How did you orientate yourself professionally during and after your studies?
My professional orientation only really began when I submitted my Master's thesis. Although I was a student assistant in the library for two years during my studies, I didn't complete an internship.
Did you make use of certain university services (e.g. Career Centre, alumni office, mentoring programme, guest lectures, etc.) for career guidance?
Yes, during my studies I twice attended the lecture series "Perspectives for Humanities Scholars" organised by the Career Centre, which I found surprisingly good due to the interesting guest speakers. The guest appearance by an archaeologist who now works at BMW in particular gave me courage for my professional future.
I also had my application portfolio checked by the Career Centre, which helped me to write my cover letter and make my CV more appealing.
Which skills from your degree programme are helpful or essential for your current job?
The analytical and structured approach helps me in my current job. I also learnt to be open to other ideas during my studies. In our mixed team consisting of graduates from a wide range of degree programmes, this is essential in order to find joint solutions and make decisions that take everyone's interests and opinions into account.
Not forgetting the expressiveness and other skills you need to think "out-of-the-box".
How did you acquire additional skills (e.g. workshops and seminars, internships, part-time job, associations, voluntary work, trainee, further training, etc.)?
I completed an internship at Scholz & friends to acquire skills in the area of strategy.
Do you have any general tips for professional orientation and career planning?
When writing a letter of application, you should respond to the job advertisement and address the points mentioned in it. It is important to be conscientious when preparing for a job interview or assessment centre. Practising in front of the mirror, recording memos of yourself practising, but also listening to podcasts on the topic of the job can be of enormous benefit here. A previous internship in the desired field of work is also always a plus.
What do you recommend to students who want to work in your industry or profession?
I thought it was a cliché, but there are actually jobs for humanities and cultural studies graduates and more and more opportunities are developing in this sector.
In addition, the persona is often more important than technical knowledge and spontaneity, presentation skills and expressiveness are very important in the assessment centre.
