My tegos story: Johannes

Today, we introduce our co-worker Johannes. His story is another example of the tegos approach of not leaving its workers on the first career path they choose and instead actively assisting them in being able to develop in accordance with their individual wishes.

Since when have you been a tegosian?

Since May 2014.

What’s your position at tegos?

I trained at tegos as an information technology specialist specialising in application development and subsequently worked as a solution developer.

After a while, I realised I wanted to work as a consultant. Although I was already familiar with the product solutions and the industry from my time as a developer, the work of a consultant calls for other knowledge and experience. tegos has a very keen sense of responsibility towards its clients and therefore understandably has high quality expectations of its own people. So it was clear to me that I couldn’t simply switch to the position of consultant and that I would have to undergo some training first. And tegos was immediately willing to support me in this. Over the next few months, I went through targeted and specific internal and external seminars and training once again and was able to follow other consultants’ projects in practice. Gradually and as I made progress, my duties and responsibilities steadily grew until I was finally awarded my first own project as a consultant after around a year, which I then executed successfully. Becoming a consultant was the right decision for me. And the route I took was exactly the right one too.

What does your job involve? Please describe it in simple terms.

The work of a business solutions consultant is very varied and can be broken down into two areas – client project and product development responsibilities.

In the area of client projects, the work begins with training in the standard modules and functionalities. Here, it is crucial that all the key users (those involved in the project on the client’s side) are engaged at all times as it is they who are responsible for passing the knowledge on to all the other employees later in the project. Another important aspect is collaboration with the key users to determine how the business processes can best be replicated within the system. Another element of the work is identifying the individual requirements together with the client’s key users and turning these into a concept that can then be realised by a solution developer. A business solutions consultant is also responsible for providing support.

In the area of product development, it is important that the experience gathered in projects be turned into new requirements or optimisation requirements.

What brought you to tegos and what did you do before?

On obtaining my ‘Abitur’ secondary school diploma, I began to study computer science. But I then realised I wasn’t keen on spending more years learning theory directly after school.  I therefore looked into how I could nevertheless remain in the area of IT and came across an apprenticeship as an information technology specialist specialising in application development. I first completed an internship with a Microsoft partner and then embarked on my apprenticeship there. However, the company had to relocate for business reasons so I looked around for another Microsoft partner near Dortmund and stumbled upon tegos.  With little fuss, the company gave me the opportunity to continue and then ultimately complete my training.

Which aspect of your job do you most enjoy?

The fact that, together with the clients, I can find solutions to how to process their business processes in our software. I also still really enjoy applying all the expertise that has been gathered to product development in order to actively play a part in further developing and optimising our solutions.

And is there anything you don’t like? If so, what?

Personally, I think the entire package at tegos is just right, so I fortunately have nothing negative to list.

What, in your opinion, is special about tegos and the tegos staff?

In addition to the support and further development I have experienced at tegos as already mentioned, it’s the cohesion and team spirit that make tegos stand out for me. Nobody is left alone with their problems at tegos. This is the case not only among the co-workers, but also in their interactions with the management. Additionally, the flexible work hours and the free choice of workplace lead to optimum work results.

Based on your experience, what tips can you offer young people for their careers?

The most important thing is that you enjoy your work and do something you can get excited about. You can always find a way to achieve what you want. It wasn’t easy for me to admit that studying computer science wasn’t the right way for me to go. But in retrospect, quitting my studies was the best decision I could have made.

What do you like to do in your free time? What are your personal interests?

It’s really important to me that I have something that balances out my job, so I like to go to the gym after work for a really intensive workout. I also like to fly my drone when the weather is good. And to somewhat live up to the cliché of an IT nerd, I like to play computer games 😊.

Johannes, thank you very much for these insights and for your time!