At intive, we encourage our people to constantly develop their skill sets and make the most of the benefits of intive’s internal mobility program. Read the following interview with Nicole Wenk, a Project manager at intive, who’s decided to switch her career path and is now taking internal training for the position of a Service Designer.
How long have you been part of the intive team?
I've been working at intive since October 2018, when I applied for the position of project manager – and so far I haven't regretted this step. At intive, I had the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility right from the start, and at the same time enough freedom to make my own decisions. I also particularly like the fact that I have a lot of room for further development, and that I work with a great team on exciting projects for clients such as Deichmann or Adidas.
How did you find out about the position of Service Designer and what motivated you to apply internally?
I have always found it exciting to dive deep into customer experiences, question them and ultimately improve them sustainably. The desire to actively shape product experiences had been there for a long time and was only reinforced by the daily cooperation with our outstanding design team. When the opportunity for further training arose, I didn't hesitate long.
Can you give us an insight into the internal application process?
After the position had been advertised internally, I sent a letter of motivation to our HR department. Just a few days later, I was invited to an internal interview with our Design Director and other colleagues from relevant departments, for which I was allowed to work on a topic-specific case study. And then everything went very quickly – it only took a few weeks from my first contact with HR to the acceptance and starting further training.
How can your further training be combined with your daily work?
I have a weekly quota of hours available to which I can book further training. With the project or workload, consideration is therefore given to further training. Since I can also flexibly divide the times for further training, I can combine learning and daily work well.
How did the first few weeks of your training go and what advice would you give to other colleagues who want to take a similar step?
In the first few weeks, I received a lot of support from other experienced colleagues. Everyone is on hand to provide advice and assistance and is happy to share knowledge. I was also quickly involved in projects in my new role – after all, that's how you learn the most.