Interviewed: From Zero to Hundred

February 25, 2022

Getting started following Katharina's example

Dear Katharina, your career at PROMATIS has been nothing short of spectacular. Why don’t you start by telling us how it all began and what kinds of activities you participated in?

After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, I started working for PROMATIS as a Business Consultant in October 2010 – in fact, I first discovered PROMATIS by a fluke via CareerContacts at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). When the topic of consulting came up, the first thing that came to my mind was “Consulting? I’m fresh out of university – who am I supposed to advise?”. But then I just went for it, and here I am!

In the course of my numerous customer projects, I have mainly been involved in the introduction, use and training of standard business application software, jetting around the world for PROMATIS in the first few years – Budapest, Milan, London, Vienna. That was quite exciting and eventful. For example, I worked for years at our customer Hutchison Drei Austria in Vienna and was able to focus on finance and accounting, cost accounting, controlling, consolidation, project accounting and controlling.

What do you particularly like about PROMATIS or what has shaped your professional life during this time?

I had the chance to get to know many different people, cultures and projects. That’s a level of diversity that you don’t find everywhere. At PROMATIS, we meet at eye level and communicate directly and in an uncomplicated manner. I feel particularly happy that I am accepted and respected as I am and that my work is highly valued. I also try to pass this on to our “newer” PROMATIS generation and in this way contribute to shaping the future of PROMATIS.

This appreciation was ultimately reflected in the way you climbed the career ladder?

Yes, that’s right. Not only was I appointed Head of the Horus Knowledge Community Finance and am in charge of further developing the area-specific knowledge bases, but I am now Head of Business Unit NetSuite and a Management Board member of the PROMATIS Group. I now have my own team that I am very proud of, and with whom I am able to handle many interesting and challenging projects. I am still involved in projects as well as in pre-sales up to support.

Wow! But how do you take time out and recharge your batteries, especially on stressful days?

Since August 2019, I’ve been getting up early several times a week, throwing on outdoor clothes and volunteering as a walker at the animal shelter – meanwhile I’ m doing it every day, which has definitely changed my life in a positive way. That’s a lot of miles that take my mind off the computer, but it’s also a lot of fun and a lot of dirt. But above all, it allows me to look at current problems and their solutions from a different perspective. I also like to do yoga and bouldering with colleagues. In general, a healthy work-life balance is very important in consulting. That’s often difficult at the beginning, because especially starting out in consulting can be really engrossing.

 

You would like to be part of the
PROMATIS team?

Join the PROMATIS team.