Graduate interview: Julia - Personnel Developer
02/07/2024After graduating, Julia worked as a personnel developer at SALT Solutions GmbH (Accenture). However, she never left university completely. She still has a teaching position at the Chair of Adult Education. Julia finds "multi-track driving" very profitable, which is why she is also a lecturer and examiner at the Chamber of Crafts for Lower Franconia. According to Julia, networking at an early stage is the be-all and end-all when studying in order to be best prepared for starting a career.
What did you study at the University of Würzburg?
I completed a Bachelor's degree in General Education and a Master's degree in Educational Sciences, specialising in adult education/further education at the University of Würzburg.
What is your current job?
1) Personnel developer: selecting and updating the continuing education programme, designing internal programmes, running workshops, invoicing, programme planning, participant analysis, etc.
2) Lecturer at the University of Würzburg
3) Lecturer and examiner for the training certificate at the Chamber of Crafts for Lower Franconia
Which company/employer do you work for?
SALT Solutions GmbH: Part of Accenture
How did you orientate yourself professionally during and after your studies?
Internships, internships, internships are particularly important!
Otherwise through Study & Stay, career fairs, networking, working as a student assistant at the university, part-time jobs, specialist journals, mentoring, lectures by alumni, etc.
Did you make use of certain university offers for career orientation (e.g. Career Centre, alumni office, mentoring programme, guest lectures, etc.)?
I took part in practical lectures, the mentoring programme, the Study & Stay job fair and various workshops.
Which skills from your degree programme are helpful or essential for your current job?
- Independently familiarising myself with new topics, reflecting on them, processing them further
- Discussing
- Giving presentations
- Visualising on a flip chart
- Developing training concepts
- Workshop methods (partly from the seminars)
How did you acquire additional skills (e.g. workshops and seminars, internships, part-time job, associations, voluntary work, trainee, further training, etc.)?
- Internships: IT, organisation, self-management
- Youth group: dealing with groups
- Further training as an educational counsellor: counselling skills, conflict management, stress resistance
- Volunteer fire brigade
- Waiter jobs
Do you have any general tips for professional orientation and career planning?
- Network early on!!! (e.g. the HR network Mainfranken)
- Complete internships, even if you have homework to do (stressful, but possible)
- Working student jobs (experience + money)
What would you recommend to students who want to work in your sector or profession?
- Flexibility: Human resources/educational activities in economic areas are diverse, which is why you should be flexible and, if necessary, get involved in jobs that do not appear to be dream jobs
- Networking
- possibly travelling on several tracks: I am a personnel developer, a lecturer at the Chamber of Crafts, a lecturer at the university. For example, work is also possible during parental leave
Basically: gain insights into different "types of company": I was in a large corporation, in the public sector, in further education institutions - they all had the same job title, but completely different activities and areas of responsibility. It makes a big difference whether you work in a corporation or a start-up. During my studies, I thought that joining a corporation would be the right thing for me. After an internship, however, I realised that a medium-sized company suited me much better.
