Employee interview with Tobias Möller
As an employee of the Kloepfel Group, you can always learn something new even after 4 years of working together. Tobias Möller, consultant at Kloepfel Consulting GmbH, talks about his 4-year experience at the company. You can also find out how he became part of Kloepfel Consulting and what he has been able to take away for himself so far.
How was your application process?
All in all, extremely pleasant. At the time, I was actively contacted by Kloepfel’s HR via XING and I appreciated the exciting and professional contact, so a first telephone call developed as a result. In this call, they explained the position as a consultant (my entry-level position at the time), which led to me developing more and more interest in working for Kloepfel Consulting. Shortly thereafter, I had a personal meeting with the department head and HR on site at the company headquarters in Düsseldorf. This meeting was very informative for both sides and all of my questions were answered. In addition, the exchange was just super friendly, which was also an immensely important point for me to be able to make my final decision for a job at Kloepfel. In the end, there were only small things to clarify and my decision to switch to Kloepfel Consulting as a prospective consultant – as a young buyer up to that point – was made.
Why did you decide on this job at that time?
The decision was indeed not easy for me at that time, because I was already in a great working environment with interesting activities and I also did not expect that Kloepfel Consulting would address me directly and convince me in the interview.
The decisive point for me was definitely that I saw a much higher learning curve for myself personally as a purchasing consultant (and still continue to see it clearly after 4 years in this job). The mixture of constantly new projects and associated challenges in terms of handling a wide variety of product groups and dealing with ever-changing personalities on the supplier or customer side is definitely the biggest lever for me, which makes my learning curve rise very steeply. In addition to many other points that simply fit at Kloepfel (the sympathy in the application process, showing an exemplary career, financial incentives, etc.) and continue to fit, the immensely high learning factor for me personally is the main reason why I decided then as well as now to work for Kloepfel Consulting and would always make the same decision again.
What does your typical working day look like?
First, I try to have a delicious coffee including a small breakfast every morning, as it has become a positive habit in the home office due to Covid and I noticedthat the working day is much more productive afterwards.
Currently, all interactions with customers and suppliers are mainly virtual. This was unusual at first, but after a short time I got used to it and am now happy to have a short conversation (albeit virtual) much more often than countless emails. The content-related tasks are different every day, as there are no classic recurring activities. Depending on the project phase, I sometimes have more interaction with the customer (especially at the beginning of the project: joint portfolio analysis, coordination of different levers per material group/supplier) and sometimes more interaction with the suppliers (award talks, negotiations, etc.). In addition to the daily contact, the interaction with the internal Kloepfel project team should be emphasized, which in my view was never neglected due to the use of Microsoft Teams. As a project manager, it is also one of my weekly tasks to keep track of all the topics of a project and to act as a link between the customer and the Kloepfel project team as well as the responsible partners.
What’s great about your job?
I think it’s excellent that even after 4 years at Kloepfel I don’t have the slightest feeling that I’ll ever stop learning – on the one hand due to the constantly changing challenges related to the variety of projects. On the other hand, however, especially due to the internal opportunities for advancement within Kloepfel Consulting GmbH. Every change of position leads to new areas of responsibility. I started at Kloepfel about 4 years ago by taking over and implementing individual topics of a project. Today, the area of responsibility has increased to the extent that I manage complete projects, set up project reporting, partly support on the sales side and also already lead employees with regard to various project topics. This shows that with increasing duration at Kloepfel there is a high internal as well as external learning factor, which I really like.
What challenges does your job entail?
I think that the keyword “time management” should be mentioned here. I often have to remind myself that it is not the quantity but the quality of the hours we work that is important. In addition, there are also some workdays, after work, when you think about what you have “accomplished” or “achieved” today. Here it is also important to refrain from reviewing the progress of one’s activity on a daily basis. Finally, I would like to mention that I personally consider it as a great and recurring challenge to put myself in the shoes of the person opposite in various supplier and customer discussions, to be able to understand his or her point of view and actions. I find this quality extremely important (not only professionally) to build up a common communication and to be able to reach the goal together.
What makes up your team?
Extremely transparent and honest communication means that there is always trust within the team. The “we-feeling” is very much alive and ensures that the motivation also spills over to the customer and that you achieve your mutual goals with fun at work.
Why does your employer suit you?
I would have to add to this question: Why does my employer suit me and why do I suit him?
During my life, I have clearly learned that much more can be achieved as part of a team than if you are alone in the field. Since Kloepfel is looking for exactly such team players and I fully support this attitude, I think the chemistry is simply right and both sides thus enjoy a win/win situation. In addition to the team factor, living a very open, transparent and honest culture on both sides is also a decisive attitude for me in order to be able to say: it fits!
Thanks for the interview!
Source: www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Kontakt
Kloepfel Group
Christopher Willson
Tel.: 0211 941 984 33
Pempelforter Str. 50
40211 Duesseldorf
Mail: rendite@kloepfel-consulting.com