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Graduate interview: Philipp - Historian

03/28/2024

After graduating, Philipp was offered an internship through contacts, which led to a permanent position. He now works at Luftbilddatenbank Dr Carls GmbH, where he is involved in historical research for the pre-discovery of explosive ordnance. Skills from his studies such as source criticism, research strategies and working efficiently with text have helped him a lot. His most important tip: get active, make contacts and specialise early on.

What did you study at the University of Würzburg?

German studies, history and teaching degree for grammar schools.

What is your current job?

Historical research for the pre-investigation of explosive ordnance (risk assessment for construction projects with regard to explosive ordnance still present from the Second World War, e.g. unexploded ordnance).
Also lecturer at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Department of History.

Which company/employer do you work for?

Aerial photo database Dr Carls GmbH, Estenfeld

What are your tasks?

  • Project-related research and evaluation of sources and literature (national/international).
  • Archive trips
  • Digital archiving of sources and processing in a geodatabase application (GIS-based)
  • Internal training programme

How did you orientate yourself professionally during and after your studies?

During my studies, I realised that I didn't necessarily want to go into teaching after all. However, many applications after the first state examination were unsuccessful. I wanted to stay in the region, which made the search more difficult. Through contacts, I was then given the opportunity to do an internship, which led to the idea of a doctorate and ultimately resulted in a permanent position.

Did you make use of certain university services for career guidance (e.g. Career Centre, alumni office, mentoring programme, guest lectures, etc.)?

There was a career-orientation event at the Institute of History (lecture series), which I attended.

Which skills from your degree programme are helpful or essential for your current job?

  • Source criticism
  • Research strategies for literature and archive material
  • Working efficiently with text (extracting the essentials)
  • Structured approach to questions

How did you acquire additional skills (e.g. workshops and seminars, internships, part-time job, associations, voluntary work, trainee, further education, etc.)?

Mainly self-study (GIA, databases such as PostgreSQL, programming languages such as Python)

Do you have any general tips for professional orientation and career planning?

  • Get active and get involved
  • Show interest (e.g. in the context of internships)
  • Studies are usually too general, so specialise early on (topics, time periods, areas)
  • Make contacts (go to specialist conferences as a student)
  • Acquire IT skills that go beyond "MS Office" and practise them on your own projects
  • Foreign languages

Skills like these also make you employable outside your own interests.

What do you recommend to students who want to work in your industry or profession?

Definitely do internships and be motivated!