Ronja Kirschenhofer
Study programme: Business Studies (BA)
Employer: Ferchau GmbH
Position: Personnel Officer
Contact: LinkedIn-profile (opens in a new window), XING-profile (opens in a new window)
For what reasons did you decide to study at HNU?
Since I was an au pair in America for a year directly after graduating from school, I wanted to live closer to my home region again. I also liked the more practical structure of the university degree programme and the possibility to choose from a wide range of specialisations. All of this spoke in my favour of studying at HNU.
What tips would you give to students in your degree programme?
Gain practical experience as early as possible through student jobs and internships. Through the practical semester, you can also gain very in-depth experience and find out whether a particular job is right for you. Because it's only in the practical experience that you realise where your strengths and preferences, but also weaknesses, lie.
Exhausting or child's play: What did your internship semester look like and what tasks did you take on?
During my internship semester, I was able to gain experience in HR development, which was a crucial part of my decision to apply for a job as an HR officer after graduating. The job itself was quite demanding and challenging, as it was my first work experience in HR and I was therefore able to learn a lot.
What was your first job like and how did you become interested in it?
My first job after graduating is still my job today. I joined Ferchau directly after my studies as a personnel officer in the IT / electrical engineering sector and switched to the pharmaceutical sector after just under a year. My current activities include everything to do with the application process: from job advertisements, to conducting interviews, to hiring. I actually became aware of Ferchau by chance, as I was specifically looking online for a job as a personnel officer in the Ulm region and the position sounded very exciting and varied - an impression I can only confirm!
What is your advice to all graduates who are looking for their first job?
Graduates should generally be open-minded and not commit themselves too much to a specific path, because in reality this is usually difficult to implement and tends to get in their own way. On the other hand, if you are open to new options and willing to take on new challenges, you will be more convincing in the job interview and will be able to develop more quickly. It is also worth taking a closer look at companies that you might not have thought about so much, because not only the "big players" have something to offer.
What are your professional goals for the future?
In the course of this year, I will develop internally to become an Account Manager Pharma, which is why I will most likely stay with Ferchau for the next few years. I plan to further expand the area together with my team and to develop personally as well as professionally.
Please describe your everyday working life. Which projects do you work on and which tasks do you particularly appreciate?
My working day is very varied and no two days are the same, which is why it never gets boring. Of course, it can be a bit stressful when many topics come up at the same time, but then we work on them as a team and distribute the most important topics among ourselves. My main task is to deal with the daily correspondence with applicants and incoming applications, to conduct interviews, but also to actively search for applicants online and contact them. The most important point, however, is matching the applicants to the right positions, so that as many applicants as possible get their future dream position!
How would you complete the following sentence?
HNU... "has helped me lay the foundations of my professional career and future development."
