Meet Philipp...

Student Challenger since 2007

Describe your educational background. Where did / do you study, what degrees did / will you receive?
After graduating from school, I decided to do an apprenticeship at Sanofi-Aventis in Frankfurt. Following I applied for the Bachelor program at WHU Vallendar, where I graduated last year. Currently, I am in my Master Studies at the same university and will eventually finish my educational career at the end of this year. 

Describe your career history. What have been your professional experiences?
During my educational career I have always tried to find time to do internships as I am convinced that a first professional experience is crucial for an successful job-entry. My first internship was in Spain where I worked at a subsidiary of a German midi-size company. One year later I joined with not only the Corporate Development department at Bertelsmann but also following the Investmentbanking (M&A) division of Citigroup. Last year I was a summer consulting intern with Bain & Company and will go on with a second consulting internship this year with McKinsey & Company.


What attracted you to Bertelsmann and your internships? What is / was your favorite aspect about your job?
I joined Bertelsmann for an internship, as I wanted to gain a deeper insight into the media business. I was always fascinated about how to deal with such a fast-moving business environment and how this company could be in the position belonging to the top leaders globally. Bertelsmann is claiming that they want to provide young professionals with the chance to take responsibility. And well, I could only agree with that. During my internship I have received a lot of freedom to deal with different strategy topics on my own that were later often part of Board presentations. Considering my contribution as part of creating a new business strategy, was very exciting and made be proud to be part of that team. 

What has been your most challenging / rewarding / exciting task or project thus far?
The most challenging task for me was right at the beginning of my internship. I was told to build an analysis presentation about a Brazilian media company whose CEO was visiting Gunter Thielen (former CEO Bertelsmann). Especially as I knew that the CEO would have used my work for his own preparation for that event, I was very excited about that. However, I was very happy as I heard he was pretty fine with my work and that I have finally accomplished my baptism by fire successfully. 

What qualities do you feel are necessary to be a successful employee at Bertelsmann?
I would consider being prepared taking responsibility as the crucial factor for becoming a successful member of the Bertelsmann community. As the success of the media business is subject of continuous innovation, you are expected to not only develop an idea but even to make that concept really happen. And for that you definitely need the ability and the wish to become a kind of inhouse-entrepreneur taking responsibility for a new business. 

What was / is a typical day during your internship like?
Honestly said, there was no typical day. Each day was different in terms of topics I dealt and people I met. Maybe the only constant in my internship was the lunch break. 

What are your professional goals? Any others ;-) ? My personal professional goal is that when I am going to retire in several decades, I want to look back and tell myself that I have created something and added value to not only the company I worked for but more the community I have lived in. 

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