"To sum up: It never gets boring here!"

Alesia

Senior Consultant — IT Consulting
Zurich


What has brought you to zeb?

I lived in Frankfurt until the end of 2017. There I took part in the “Career Brunch Consulting”, an event organized by e-fellows, several times. zeb also attended one of those events and I had the opportunity to have a very nice conversation with one of the zeb Partners. The zeb employees made a very professional yet friendly and down-to-earth impression on me.

At a later point in time, I was thinking about moving from Frankfurt to Zurich. And as fate would have it, I was approached by a headhunter assigned by zeb. As I favorably remembered zeb, I was happy about being invited to a job interview in Munster. Even though I was nervous the interview with HR, Senior Manager and Partner was pleasant and informative. I gladly accepted the subsequent invitation to become part of zeb.

 

What are your responsibilities at zeb?

For every consultant the client is always a priority. In order for the client to always get the best possible results and the most current knowledge, a lot has to be done in the background. In addition to the actual projects I work a lot on offers providing solutions that are tailored to the individual client’s specific challenges. The composition of the team plays an important role here—and we also look for the suitable skills internationally. In this context the network within zeb is essential and the practice groups can be of great assistance.

I myself am a part of the practice group “Restructuring & Operational Excellence” that consists of members from Germany, Sweden, Poland, Russia and other countries. We meet twice a year in a different location to discuss current topics and trends in that area. (Last time we met here in Zurich.) Moreover, I am a member of the practice group “Payments”—last week we were in London where we discussed the latest developments in “cash management” with one of the Partners. There was also a special guest with background knowledge from the City.

 

What makes zeb special?

In my view, it is the corporate culture that motivates employees to work independently and to become involved in different areas. There are sufficient opportunities for that, e.g. cooperation in scientific studies, writing of specialist articles, membership in one of the practice groups where you can focus working on a certain topic in a circle of like-minded colleagues.

You quickly get used to having an international network of colleagues whose knowledge can be accessed at any time. You can find an expert on each and every financial services topic. In case there is a new topic nobody has dealt with yet, you can be the first to explore it. Good suggestions are also well received!

 

What were your first weeks at zeb like? What were your first impressions?

Already during the interview, the zeb employees managed to get me excited about the work here. I learned a lot about the company and the opportunities awaiting me. I remember the first days and weeks still very well, even if time flies when you work at zeb. My Swiss colleagues warmly welcomed me, which I am very grateful for—especially because you have loads of questions when you first settle in a new country.

As a new employee you immediately feel well looked after at zeb. There are many opportunities to build your own network within the company. Every year there is the two-day zeb.Uni event, there are regular women@zeb events which you are invited to as a woman. (These events take place in another city every time—I am already looking forward to the next event in Vienna.) The introductory event zeb.Start I takes place in the headquarters in Münster, where you can also meet the staff from our internal departments. Further training is of utmost importance at zeb: the offered training program is enormous and very diverse. To sum up: It never gets boring here!