During my degree, I was able to write my semester dissertation for MAN Diesel & Turbo: the introduction of a method for the risk assessment of our large diesel engines. It was a demanding task – and MAN rewarded my efforts with new and exciting challenges. For my thesis, I travelled to India to develop a new product development process for our commercial vehicle division. In 2009 I entered the trainee program, where I learned about a large number of new areas in a short space of time. The international deployments left the greatest impression on me. For example, I coordinated our truck tests on site in Brazil together with our people in Munich. My job as the communications interface between Brazilian and German colleagues showed me how important it is to have social competence in combination with specialist knowledge.

It allows us to communicate on a single level and pursue out goals together.If you can adjust quickly to new situations, MAN offers you opportunities for personal and professional advancement. With us, change is routine.

Three months into my traineeship my supervisor said to me, “How do you feel about improving our supplier relations in Spain?” That was my first international deployment, and it wasn’t the last either. While I was a trainee I managed several projects aimed at optimizing purchasing at MAN Truck & Bus. This gave me the chance to prove that I could solve problems myself and operate confidently in unfamiliar territory. Later I was involved in establishing the joint venture in India, and because there were few existing structures it was like being a pioneer – challenging and exciting at the same time. Since the beginning of 2009 I’ve been responsible for product planning for vehicles built in China for other growth markets. If you’re open to learning new things every day, you’ll make an impact at MAN.

When I was studying computer science I dealt mainly with abstract things like numbers and formulae. But I wanted to do something more concrete, with a final product that I could see and touch. And that's exactly what I found at MAN. After only three months I was given the order for an IT project in the Sales Division. As members of the project team we quickly recognised the chance and the potential offered by such a project and its strategic importance. As a result, the range of the project broadened and the focus of my work shifted: as sub-project manager I worked together with the user division on developing the specifications and acted as consultant to the programmers during implementation. The result of our two years' work was a manufacturer's portal that enables our customers to follow our production processes.

It was with pride that I saw how enthusiastically our customers greeted the system when it was introduced at the IAA Commercial Vehicles.
At our company we can all develop our skills and our ideas. If it's challenge and development you're looking for, you'll be more than welcome at MAN.