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My name is Vera and I have been working for LEONI since March 2021. I started at LEONI as a working student in Human Resources Marketing in Germany. My tasks included matters pertaining to HR and Marketing, such as organizing and post-processing in-house and external events, designing and revising promotional literature, drafting social media posts and organizing of job interviews.

In the middle of all this, an exciting topic for my master's dissertation developed, which I was fortunate enough to write one day a week as part of my working student activity at LEONI. Broadly speaking, the subject of my master's dissertation was the potential of Instagram as a human resources marketing tool. 

When my time as a working student was coming to an end in May 2022, as I had by then completed my master's degree course, my line manager approached me and suggested various ways for me to continue on my path at LEONI. And so, in June 2022, I started my job in the Global Recruitment department with a focus on social media and employer branding. 

What does a typical working day as a Global Recruitment expert look like?

Start of the day

My day usually starts between 8 and 9 a.m.; I often work from home. About once a week I meet with my colleagues in the office. This is important to us and allows us to keep up the personal contact within the team. From time to time, my work is completely mobile, for example I work from a café or on the train. At LEONI, we can work from almost anywhere in Germany. I find this flexibility extremely attractive.

Morning

First, I check my emails and reply to them, then I often have meetings with my team or colleagues in other departments. Often, I work on issues together with our Communications and Marketing department: among other things, relating to drafting a group-wide social media strategy, the collation of news from our foreign sites or major HR issues, which we distribute.

Lunch break

I usually have lunch at 12 noon. I enjoy going for a walk or meeting with friends in Nuremberg's city center. If I am in the office, we usually get something from the city center as a team and then have lunch on the roof terrace of our Nuremberg building. In summer, in particular, it provides a fantastic panorama for our brief time-out together. From time to time, I walk home and have lunch there after the morning meetings in the office because I live very centrally. My manager gives me a lot of scope, so I can tailor my working day to suit my needs.

Afternoon

In the afternoon I mostly work alone in concentration mode or collaborate with my colleagues in work groups on the projects that have been assigned to me. At present, they primarily include revising our careers page, preparing, and creating contributions for various social media channels and, of course, developing a global social media strategy for LEONI. These activities produce presentations for the country communication or follow-up appointments, depending on the needs of the country in question. I usually finish for the day between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Of course, that also depends on what time I started in the morning.

Evening

I enjoy ending the working day by meeting with friends or with sport. I am a member of Urban Sports, which allows me to try out a variety of different sports in Nuremberg. Thanks to the corporate benefits granted by LEONI, I get a discount on my membership fees. And when I finish work a bit later, I enjoy sleeping a few minutes more, unless I have an early meeting – flexitime makes it possible! And so, every day is a bit different.

Why did you opt for LEONI as your employer?

I chose LEONI because I was looking for a working student internship in the vicinity that would fit in perfectly with my degree subject. By chance, LEONI advertised a job in human resources marketing at exactly that time. It brought together the two focal areas from my bachelor's degree in International Management, namely human resources, and marketing and media. As an additional bonus, I have a great interest in other cultures and love experiences abroad, and so I had secretly hoped for a bigger company with a large international footprint.

What I really appreciate about LEONI is the fact that it actively seeks to advance career starters, working students and interns into more senior positions, just as happened to me. You are more than just an anonymous number in the system, as is the case in some of the other large corporations: you feel valued as a fully-fledged colleague right from the start. In addition, you are rapidly integrated into a welcoming team that shows you opportunities for further development.

Of course, what I like particularly is the fact that you can organize your working time in general very flexibly, through flexitime and mobile working (up to 100% is possible). This started out as a transitional arrangement during Covid but was made into a binding works agreement in summer 2022. LEONI's membership of the IG-Metall trade union itself also brings a few benefits: additional vacation days, bonus payments, centralized pay negotiations... So, it is easy to balance my personal life with my work, and I greatly enjoy the fact that I was able to find this work/life balance in my first full-time job.

The central location of LEONI’s Nuremberg site is definitely another plus point: it takes me about 15 minutes on foot to get to my desk, I am able to get something tasty for lunch from the city center at any time, which I can then enjoy on the roof terrace or, if the weather is bad, in our lounge. LEONI is also easily accessible from other cities by public transport as the main train station is only 300 meters away.

What is the work culture at LEONI like?

The atmosphere at LEONI is family-like despite it being a large international corporation with around 100,000 employees. My impression is that you are given responsibility very quickly and have the opportunity to work independently on projects and tasks without being micro-managed and checked up on all the time. Trust really is a big focus, and new ideas and suggestions for improvement are always welcome – a good basis for making a difference and being part of the decision-making process! What I personally like very much is the regular after-work events organized at our Nuremberg location. They are an opportunity to get to know a variety of employees from different departments: whether at a shared dinner, an evening in the beer garden or, of course, on Nuremberg's famed Christmas Market.

What has been your best / most exciting moment at LEONI to date?

The best moment was probably the fact that the master’s dissertation and the start at LEONI went so smoothly! Being able to start your career seamlessly, directly after your degree, without having to compose dozens of applications, that was a huge relief. On top of this, I knew the team and some of the tasks, and I was certain that the work culture and corporate values matched mine. And it was fantastic to know that my own performance was valued and seen, and that LEONI is interested in my development, as well as that of the other employees. 

Another highlight was the trip with our entire team to the Social Recruitment Days in Berlin: an event where in two days we learnt an incredible amount about active sourcing, employer branding and social recruitment – giving us more than enough inspiration for the coming year.

What three words would you use to describe LEONI briefly and succinctly?

• Appreciative
• Flexible
• International