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The dream of a job as a manager is finally coming true - and now?
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Photo: Yagi Studio / Digital Vision / Getty Images
The start into working life is exciting, exhausting - and often completely different than planned. In the series
"My first year in the job"
young professionals tell how they experienced this time.
This time: Max *, 27, has given up his job in a family-run recycling company in order to be trained as a manager by an international company.
“It was clear to me years ago that I wanted to be a manager by the age of 30.
I like to have the strings in hand and to organize - that was already the case as a captain in the football team or when working in groups at school.
I have set myself the
target of
“
30 years” to drive myself.
I don't have a family yet, so I have a lot of time.
I would now like to build something up for myself so that in a few years I can step backwards without fear and a guilty conscience.
In my family, I had noticed how someone had to drop out of college and start an apprenticeship instead.
I wanted to do it the other way around and have something in hand before I study.
After graduating from high school, I therefore first trained as a specialist in recycling and waste management in a medium-sized family company from the recycling industry - colloquially one would probably simply call it junkyard.
Business administration and environmental protection
I found the topic of recycling so exciting that I continued to study it in my subsequent business studies.
The university near my home village has an environmental focus, all courses are devoted to this topic from different angles: prospective engineers deal with renewable energies, computer science students with environmental informatics and prospective lawyers with economic and environmental law.
"I was able to use almost nothing of my university knowledge"
Max, 27
After completing my bachelor's degree, I could theoretically have worked in marketing or accounting.
Instead, I started in a new role at the company where I had completed my training: I was no longer an apprentice, but a waste officer and so-called material flow manager, so I looked after the sustainable use of raw materials, for example by recycling or reusing scrap and metals.
Suddenly I was responsible for a lot, for example compliance with environmental protection standards.
more on the subject
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Trade in waste: EU limits plastic waste export
On the one hand that was great because I liked the team - but on the other hand it was often frustrating.
For many, I just remained the ex-trainee.
In addition, it was a traditional family company in which all management positions were occupied for many years to come.
I could hardly use any of my university knowledge and the chances of advancement were slim.
Noticing in your mid-twenties that nothing is moving forward?
As sorry as I was, I had to get out of there.
So just a few months after joining, I applied in all sorts of industries: from insurance to defense companies.
I wanted to find a job with more perspective, no matter where.
But at first I only got rejections - or no answers at all.
That hurt.
In order to give myself more freedom, I enrolled for a master’s degree parallel to my job.
More episodes of "My first year in the job"
Career entry as a consultant: "The Big Four were no longer enough for me" Recorded by Wiebke Bolle
Career entry as a veterinarian: "The salary is a slap in the face after five and a half years of study" Recorded by Florian Gontek
Starting a job as a vocational school teacher: "In the middle of the corona crisis, I got a job where I can hardly be quit" Recorded by Sebastian Maas
In addition, I narrowed the circle and applied proactively to companies that matched my previous profile more.
An international company in the recycling industry finally gave me a chance.
Since April I've been doing a traineeship for young executives there, while I'm finishing my master’s degree.
A traineeship is a training and development program that companies offer to train young people.
In my case it works like this: I am the managing director's assistant and was transferred by him to the manager of three regional branches, who teaches me day-to-day business.
I have actually been given responsibility for a facility he oversees and lead the team there myself: My six employees and I ensure that contaminated wastewater from industrial plants is treated and fed back into the water cycle.
We filter out solids such as mud and sand, but also chemical compounds such as ammonium or sulfate dissolved in the water.
How much you earn as a manager in the recycling industry
When negotiating the salary for my new job, I naturally gambled a lot;
When I was asked about my previous earnings, I gave around 20 percent more.
I think HR managers know that and take it into account.
Now I earn around 8,000 euros more a year than before, because as a trainee I get 4,000 euros gross per month.
In addition, my employer pays the tuition fees - around 1400 euros per semester - and I can use my company car privately.
"For me, the job was primarily about responsibility and prospects for advancement, not primarily about money."
Max, 27
For me, the job was primarily about responsibility and prospects for advancement, not primarily about money.
If they had offered me less, I would still have accepted because a better position would have emerged later.
The workload is high and a lot of the work takes place in the head, which is why it usually buzzes in the evening.
I put a lot of pressure on myself.
Because now that I have the opportunity and am close to my goal, I also want to perform and show my boss and myself what I can do.
But guiding people and telling them what to do is stressful.
What I still have to learn is how to respond to the needs of the individual employee.
What seems like a triviality to me can be extremely important to someone else.
Nobody should think of me: 'What kind of ass is that?'
more on the subject
Tips from the career coaches: How can I deal better with criticism? A guest article by Dorothea Assig and Dorothee Echter
Working without a boss: "We made everyone a manager" By Verena Töpper
Icon: Spiegel Plus Asset researcher explains: How to get rich in GermanyAn interview by Jens Radü
There are actually courses for this as part of the traineeship - but they have been postponed due to Corona.
Now we will soon catch up on them digitally.
It then comes down to questions like: 'How do I talk to employees?' Or 'How do I approach them so that I am determined but respectful?'
I need to recognize what kind of guidance the people on my team need.
Some need an ass kick, others need it more human.
What scares some or angry makes others think.
Fortunately, all of my bosses have been very good role models so far.
They managed to motivate me without being loud.
I want to be like that too.
In the past nine months, however, I also realized that sometimes I reach my limits and cannot do everything at once.
The full-time job, the personnel responsibility and also the master’s on the weekends?
That is hard.
But the master’s degree also means more money and opportunities.
As soon as I'm done, I'll be back in my boss's office and renegotiate. "
* The protagonist wants to remain anonymous, his name is known to the editors.
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