As part of the Job Insights event series organized by the MBS Career Center, an online consulting career event took place on October 28, 2021. The guests were Katrin Gillett, Kathrin Rienecke and Leonard Gerch, who introduced the students to the world of consulting at Adobe, KPMG and Horváth.
After a brief opening and welcome by MBS Career Center Manager Stephanie Stangl, Katrin Gillett, who is currently completing her MBA part-time at Munich Business School and also works as a Senior Solutions Consultant Digital Media at Adobe, took the floor. She introduced herself and provided insights into Adobe’s corporate culture. Kathrin Gillet is 28 years old, was born in Germany, loves animals, sports and food – especially chocolate – and has always been interested in technology. After studying computer science, Katrin took some time off and traveled to Australia, where she spent a total of seven years. Back in Germany, she started her career at Adobe in March 2020.
With the mission Adobe changing the world through digital experiences, Katrin led over to the company part of her presentation. In her position as Senior Solutions Consultant, she acts as an interface between customers and sales teams and supports her customers in achieving strategic goals. To visualize the daily tasks of a digital media consultant at Adobe, the MBA student showed her weekly schedule and explained that every day is different because customers have different needs. On Mondays, for example, she updates the dashboards. Katrin named the following as the top skills for the consulting job:
- Communication: pitching, negotiating, empathy, authenticity
- Focus: assisting clients in achieving their goals, finding common ground, learning to say no
- Problem solving: have a plan B, leave room for improvement
As a conclusion, Katrin stated that this profession is definitely something for people who love challenges.
Consultant Kathrin Rienecker, who shares Katrin Gillet’s passion for food, was the second guest speaker to take the floor and presented the role of auditor at the auditing and consulting firm KPMG. She is based in Hamburg as a Senior Manager at KPMG. After her personal introduction, she moved on to the company and mentioned that it is precisely diverse teams that make KPMG so special. For example, KPMG has a 50% share of women. After this interesting fact, Kathrin introduced the services at KPMG. For example, there are the areas Deal Advisory, Tax or Financial Services. She went into more detail about her own area, Audit, the description of which can be found in the adjacent picture.
Kathrin’s daily tasks as an auditor and senior manager include making phone calls, assisting with problems, and ultimately ensuring that the financial statements are accurate. She also drew attention to the following challenges:
- “You don’t always have the same perspective as the clients – however, you will find solutions that make sense for both parties.”
- “I traveled a lot in the beginning, but as long as my projects are managed well, I’m ok. Also, you get an overwhelming amount of emails.”
Kathrin also pointed out that her profession has to do with business and social responsibility.
