Meet Manuel...

Student Challenger since 2008

Describe your educational background. Where did / do you study, what degrees did / will you receive?
I started studying at the European Business School (EBS), Oestrich-Winkel, in 2005. In June 2008, I received my Bachelor of Science degree. After an internship at Bertelsmann arvato from June till August 2008, I started my Master’s studies in the Master of Management program, also at the EBS, with the specializations Corporate Finance and Supply Chain Management.

What are / have been your current / former roles and responsibilities?
After school and while doing civilian service, I worked as a tennis instructor. Since I am a passionate player myself, it was fun to spend a lot of time on the court. In my first year at university, I headed the students’ IT club. At the moment, I am the student representative of the Master’s programs of the EBS. Although this is quite a challenging task that requires a lot of time and effort, you can really make a difference and it offers a lot of potential for personal development.

What attracted you to Bertelsmann and your internships? What is / was your favorite aspect about your job?
Of course, media addiction is quite a good prerequisite for an internship at Bertelsmann. Apart from that, however, I did not have any special expectations. From the very first week of my internship, I worked largely autonomously on my project. I was allowed to conduct interviews, to travel, and to even present my results to the CEO of arvato. All of this is surely nothing that one would usually expect from an internship. Equally important, however, was that my colleagues were extremely kind and easy to get along with.

What has been your most memorable moment (so far) during your internship?
As already mentioned, at the end of my internship, I presented my results to the CEO of arvato. It was really memorable to get the feedback that my thoughts contribute to a large extent to the implementation of a new field of business in the future. 

What qualities do you feel are necessary to be a successful employee at Bertelsmann?
My internship at Bertelsmann only lasted three months. Still, I think that a proactive and creative attitude is surely necessary. At Bertelsmann, it is quite common to entrust young employees with a lot of responsibilities. Thus, to be successful, one has to be willing to deal with that.

Have you had the opportunity to travel as part of your job?
The project I worked on during my internship dealt with assessing potential market entry strategies in a new business field. Therefore, I also conducted a couple of interviews in Italy, both in Rome and in Milan. It was a great experience to talk to true industry experts in person.

What was / is a typical day during your internship like?
What I liked about my internship was that hardly one day was like the other. Usually, I started around 9 am. Most of the time, I worked on my project: thinking, researching or working on a presentation but also discussing with experts from arvato or participating in meetings. At least once a week, I talked with the head of the strategy department about my progress, which helped me a lot in developing my ideas. Every now and then, I supported smaller projects in other areas so that I really got to know a whole variety of topics.

If you had one word to describe Bertelsmann – what would it be?
Versatile