Timon: That you start your studies with a plan: I’m going to be a consultant. For me, it only developed in this direction during my Master’s degree.
I studied Business Administration at the University of Münster for my Bachelor’s degree. For my Master’s degree, I specialised in management and accounting. It was during this time that I realised I liked project management. I thrive when it comes to organizing things. Anyone who goes on holiday with me knows that they can sit back and relax because I take care of all the organization! Prior to my current role, I was a project manager at an AI start-up.
Timon recently traveled to Southeast Asia. The photo shows him in Nong Khiaw in Laos. He was deeply impressed by the openness and friendliness of the people in Southeast Asia: “These are values that I want to live by in my everyday life.”
As I studied at the University of Münster, I was already familiar with the consultancy as a regional company. I then came into direct contact through my membership in the Management Association for Perspectives (MAP) talent development program, which grosse-hornke supports as a partner.
First of all, you are right in the middle of the project from day one and take on responsibility. That’s challenging on the one hand, but it was also important to me. I deliberately opted for a somewhat smaller consultancy because I wanted to be involved right from the start.
On a large IT project in the financial sector. It’s about identity and access management. I spend a lot of time talking to the stakeholders and making sure that they understand the technical concepts and that the changeover is as easy as possible for them.
Recently, our contacts on the customer side explicitly thanked us for our great performance. Of course you’re happy at a time like that. It also shows that customers have already experienced projects differently in the past because they were not properly involved and relieved.
One thing: stay calm. You need to radiate stability, especially when customers are under pressure. With us, you are integrated into the project as a fully-fledged team member right from the start. That’s great, but it also means you have to familiarize yourself quickly and act confidently. For the stakeholders, you are the anchor in the project.
Simply gain experience and try things. If you approach colleagues openly, you learn incredibly quickly in projects. Also how to keep calm in stressful phases.
Timon learned to sail on the Aasee in Münster. In addition to his inland sailing license, he now also has a “Sportbootführerschein See” for the open sea.
I have always enjoyed sport. One of my hobbies is sailing. I used to sail a lot on pleasure boats and hope to get back into it soon. Apart from that, I travel a lot and enjoy learning languages. This brings you into contact with a wide variety of people, even if you only speak a few snippets of words. During my studies, I spent a semester in Barcelona and a semester in Paris. I still learn Spanish every day with Duolingo. My ‘streak’ is now over 1800 days, and I don’t want to let it stop!
I would recommend a book series that is also about traveling and sailing: “Der Paradiesjäger” by Wolfgang Clemens Gangerl. He travels around the world without an airplane and with little money and has been to over 100 countries. The books are about encounters with other cultures, but also about challenges and real dangers, from corruption to pirate attacks.
In this interview, our colleague talks about the best moments in an IT project, his record hunt on Duolingo – and why he decided to become a management consultant.
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