BIS Careers Day with 18 speakers from Microsoft, Audi, Linkedin, Personio, Flixbus, B-ON & Co.
The 18 speakers for the 40 different panels were chosen very deliberately so that the students could get to know a variety of different personalities, industries and jobs – the guests came from Microsoft, Audi, Linkedin, Personio, Flixbus, B-ON, ams OSRAM, Klinikum Dritter Orden, United Nations World Food Programme, Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, Plastic Omnium, New Flag GmbH (Invisibobble), BERNARD Group, City of Munich and many more.
"I really liked that every speaker was different and no one had taken the same path. It was good to have a contrast of different types of futures," said Grade 10 student Anna Tonn. Her schoolmate Daniel Peters (Grade 11) called the careers day an opportunity and experience. "Not every school offers something like this to students." Lilian Nash (Grade 11) said: "Several speakers encouraged us to go against the current, step out of our comfort zones. They also gave really realistic insights into what certain career paths mean."
"Entrepreneurship is not glamorous."
André Schwämmlein, one of the founders and CEO of FlixBus, for example, told how his path led from a 10 sqm room with three people in just over 10 years to an international company that is now active in 40 countries on four continents. "Entrepreneurship is not glamorous, it is hard work, a wild ride and failure is part of the job."
Robert Schäfer shared his story of how he turned from a lawyer to a CEO in professional football. "Find your passion, work hard, think big and never give up," summarised the sports manager who is working with his own start-up to transform football clubs, making them more sustainable and diverse.
Isabell Fries, one of Germany's youngest political spokespersons (Dr. Markus Söder, Markus Blume; now working at Philoneos), described the future skills - the famous 4 C's Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical Thinking - as the secret sauce for the future.
Sophie Trelles-Tvede, an alumni of the Zurich International School, invented the no-trace hair elastic "Invisibobble" and is one of the owners and executive board of the beauty brand company New Flag GmbH with more than 320 employees in eight locations in Europe and the US. "There is something about speaking to teenagers that is wildly different than speaking to adults, which makes them my favourite group of people to converse with. First of all, something you say, can ACTUALLY change their life. When I was a teenager I was told the one or other thing that really changed me as a person and what my values are. Secondly, they don't lie. If you are boring them, you will definitely know that. They feel no need to be polite. And at least that is feedback you can take away and work on,” the book author of "100 Million Hair Gums - and a Vodka Tonic" reflected on the BIS Careers Day.
Finally, Selena Gabat, Marketing Director of Linkedin, gave the students her Golden Rule 3 x 8 for a good work-life balance: "8 hours work, 8 hours family and fun, 8 hours sleep."
When students and speakers alike are happy, one can speak of a successful learning experience for all. “These students are all great personalities, and it will be a pleasure when these people will take their positions in life as they will make it a better world,” praises the German communication expert Prof. Wolfram Winter.
“From engaged stares, to two-thumbs-up feedback and a "That was awesome!" comment, I hope they got as much out of our time together as I did, because I had a blast!” said Laura Schulz from the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre.
Finally, the Flixbus CEO André Schwämmlein summarised: "I love the idea to show young people options in life. There are so many great jobs and the earlier you broaden your horizon, the better you can chose where your way should lead you.”
A big thank you to our high-calibre speakers:
- Jama Askaryar, AUDI AG
- Nadine Beyreuther, Personio
- Dr. Maria Bernard-Schwarz, CEO BERNARD Group
- Reto F. Brunner, RETO CREATIVE GMBH
- Dr. Franz Edler von Koch, Klinikum Dritter Orden
- Isabell Fries, Philoneos
- Selena Gabat, LinkedIn
- Jörg Hofmann, B-ON
- Dr. Maryam Marquardt, ams OSRAM
- Pietro Motta, United Nations World Food Programme
- Aleksejs Plotnikovs, Microsoft
- Robert Schäfer, RTC Management & Sports GmbH
- Laura Schulz, Leibniz Supercomputing Centre - Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ)
- André Schwämmlein, Flix SE
- Thibaut Stern, Plastic Omnium
- Korinna Thielen, City of Munich, Universität Kassel (Germany)
- Sophie Trelles-Tvede, Invisibobble/New Flag GmbH
- Prof. Wolfram Winter, Thr3Winters GmbH
