From when until when did you work at Detecon? In what position?
I wrote my master's thesis at Detecon at the beginning of 2008 and then joined the former Practice Strategy & Marketing as a Business Analyst in the middle of the year. I have worked for Detecon until mid-2012 and mainly helped telco providers to develop innovative digital products.
What were your most exciting Detecon moments?
I can think of two very exciting moments in particular: Immediately after joining Detecon, I had the opportunity to support an international telecommunications company in a large-scale innovation project. We developed a series of workshops lasting several days and developed over 300 ideas in interdisciplinary teams with the help of creative methods on how the company could do more business. That was very intense and taught me the basics of workshop planning. This skill still helps me today.
My second formative moment came at the beginning of 2010 when I went to Beijing for half a year for Detecon as part of the Young Consultants Exchange. The announcement came at very short notice and I had so much to organize by the day of departure that I finally sat on the plane without speaking a single word of Mandarin. However, this changed quickly in the course of the next months, because Beijing was not yet ready for international guests at that time. In order to get from A to B by taxi, for example, the ability to understand Chinese was indispensable, so I learned the language very quickly. Moreover, the insight into project work with Chinese mobile phone companies was invaluable for my professional development.
Which company do you work for today? What is your main field of activity there?
After working in other management consultancies, I am currently employed as a team leader for User Experience and User Interface Design at Europe's largest recipe platform Chefkoch.de in Bonn. I lead a team of eight people there, which is responsible for the visual appearance of Chefkoch.de on all digital platforms. We are involved throughout the entire product development process, from the initial product idea through concept development to the final design. I appreciate the entrepreneurial freedom I have in a medium-sized company with around 120 employees. The experience I have gained during my consulting career allows me to bring in different perspectives all over again.
What did you particularly appreciate at Detecon and what do you miss from the 'old' days?
At a young age, I found the international spirit that I experienced at Detecon incredibly fascinating. The opportunity to sit every few months in new teams with new customers and analyze a variety of different the problems was challenging and very exciting. I sometimes miss this diversity a bit, even though I am very happy and grateful to be working intensively on one product at the moment and to be able to satisfy more than 21 million users with the results of this product every month.
In which three hashtags do you describe Detecon?
#Working_International
#ICT_in_the_blood
#Team_Spirit
