Five in one go

Tim Belitz

Amazon, Tchibo, Jungheinrich, Inverto, Camelot and logistics company Kühne & Nagel: these renowned employers used the Logistics and Supply Chain Management Career Event at KLU to conduct personal interviews with selected participants and vet talents for their companies during various workshops. The exclusive career event at Kühne Logistics University took place for the fourth year in a row on January 27-28. Tim Belitz is a KLU student. His application to participate in the career event enabled him to arrange an interview with five of the six companies and explore detailed job offers. We spoke about the experience with him.

5 interviews and only 6 participating companies – how did you manage that success rate?

I put a lot of work into my application for the event. All the applicants were asked to answer three questions on their motivation and career plans. My answers were sent to the companies in advance. I think that if you put a lot of thought into providing thorough answers, you already have an edge. And since I’ve studied at five universities in four different countries and worked in my field since my first BSc semester, I also satisfy a broad range of requirements. 

How did you prepare for the interviews?

For each of the companies, I picked out concrete jobs that I wanted to apply for. At the same time, I thought about the qualifications that are linked to the tasks and how my experience matches them. I also prepared a list of questions to ask the companies and found out about the logistical challenges each one faces.  

Did you feel like it was an interview marathon and if so, how were you able to survive?

I was well prepared so I felt relaxed when I went to the interviews. But of course it’s stressful to go from one interview to the next without breaks in between. My advice: eat a substantial breakfast and you’ll have enough energy.

How were the interviews in general? Were some more interesting than others?

I was very satisfied with all the interviews. Actually, they were fairly similar: after briefly introducing myself and outlining my CV, they asked the classical questions about specific milestones in my autobiography. But there were some job-related questions as well. I especially liked the interviews in which the companies had prepared themselves to meet me and I talked to people from the departments and not Human Resources employees. In these cases, the interviews were much more detailed and more interesting.

Your conclusion for the day? Can you give future cohorts some tips?

The KLU Career Event was very successful. I was able to acquire an excellent impression of what would await me at each company from the interviews and company presentations. I would recommend talking to the companies outside the interviews as well. Conversations like these are more relaxed and you have more time for questions and answers.

Is there anything you would like to add?

It is also very helpful to tour the companies. You are together with employees from the company for a longer time and can ask specific questions.

 

The career event at KLU is targeted to graduates of all types of universities with degrees in (industrial) engineering and business administration, development engineering, materials handling/logistics, purchasing/procurement, organization/planning or transport. The event is different from other event formats in that the companies select the participants in advance and invite them to personal interviews and workshops. Upon receiving invitations to the event, the 50 students had overcome the first obstacle. More than 300 students Germany-wide applied to participate in the event.

The Logistics and Supply Chain Management Career Event is organized by recruiting specialists access and takes place on the Kühne Logistics University campus. KLU hosts the event as a way of supporting its students’ search for professional orientation and entry-level positions.