After obtaining my secondary school leaving certificate, I completed an apprenticeship as an IT specialist at SMS group GmbH from 2012 to 2015. Afterwards, I worked for about four years in the service department for electrics & automation. During my time in service, I was already able to work in the team for production planning systems. When it was finally announced that the team would close and move to SMS digital, I joined my team and moved as well. Now, I have been working in SMS digital GmbH in the area of production planning systems since 2019.

After I had really arrived at SMS digital for the first time, I noticed how dynamically the field of digitalization is developing and what opportunities it offers for me personally. I had also been considering studying for some time. After I had looked into the subject again in detail, I was so enthusiastic about the digital business course that I made it my new challenge.

At the beginning, pursuing a course of study while working actually presents a lot of challenges. Combining studies and work at the same time can bring a lot of conflict potential at the beginning. Of course, despite the double burden, nothing should fall by the wayside, so I have to prioritize my open items more and more in order to get everything done on time and in the best possible way. So far, my time management has turned out to be extremely workable. My course of study is very well designed for part-time study and, thanks to short learning materials, offers the possibility to learn one or the other topic in a free minute and thus to optimally integrate my studies into my normal working day.

SMS digital supports me as much as possible in my new challenge. On the one hand, I can organize my weekly working hours flexibly and reduce them significantly. On the other hand, I get a lot of understanding from my colleagues, especially before important exams, and I get the time I need to study.
In the future, I would of course like to successfully complete my studies and at the same time further develop my career in the company. After my studies, I would definitely like to take on more responsibility and be able to actively contribute my knowledge to the company so that I can play a decisive role in the further development of our products and play my part in the company's success.

I would like to tell future colleagues to get actively involved, to be open to change and to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. And if things get a bit bumpy and don't go so well, it always helps to talk openly with your colleagues, because you're much stronger as a team.

The step toward part-time study should be well considered. The additional burden over a long period of time should not be decided on the side. In addition, you should choose a course of study that really interests you, since interest in studying is essential in order to remain motivated over a long period of time. To ensure that time management really works well, I recommend separating the topics of work and study - as far as possible - in terms of time.