Job Slot Archives - imc Learning

Formula 1 and learning management systems don’t really have much in common. But if you want to be a pro in either of them, you need a lot of passion. And that’s definitely something Ravi Tandon, a customer success manager at imc Australia, has in abundance.

I’ve probably never spoken to any imc employee who is as passionate about the product they’re responsible for as Ravi. But then Ravi is, as he freely admits, quite a crazy guy, who still regrets the fact that he never got to be a Formula 1 driver. In this interview, he talks about his tasks, why he made the LMS his girlfriend, and a job interview that featured some very tricky questions.

You know, my role is actually a mix of customer success manager and e-learning consultant, and indeed I feel this is a very critical role for the company. Because here in Australia these roles are not so strictly separated from each other as in Germany, for example.

So, I take care of all issues that our customers have with our learning management system (LMS) and make sure they feel comfortable with our service and our product. But that’s not all. It’s also part of my job to ensure they trust and believe in us as a capable team.

Our tagline is “we empower”. And that’s what I try to do: I aim to empower customers to work as effectively as possible with our product. My goal is to find the best business solutions for them. Moreover, I want to make talking to us a positive experience for them, and, as I said earlier, make sure they don’t feel like just another number.

That’s correct. My career path at imc is quite unusual. I started in pre-sales for our LMS, but then worked in the content team for a while. It was a great time, and I learned a lot, but I feel that I’m more of a tech guy. I love our LMS, and that is where I belong.

But one thing that all my roles at imc had in common was a great sense of exciting complexity. In the content team, the approach was rather top down, but the process was highly creative. In the LMS team, you work with a lot of different departments and people in various roles. That can be challenging and involve a lot of back and forth, but I love interacting with different people and in different ways.

I just love our system. For me, the LMS is like a black hole – and I mean that in an absolutely positive way. It’s so wonderfully complex, and you’re always finding new functions, or new ways to use certain functions. It’s like navigating in a spaceship in outer space, and I’m the navigator – for our customers.

It just feels good when a customer calls you – perhaps they’re desperate, or annoyed with something – and I can help them out. I enjoy that feeling of confidence and being a subject matter expert with the ability to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one within the space of a single phone call.

But I have to give big credits here to the team in Germany. At the beginning, they taught me a lot about the system, and they still have so much detailed knowledge that they’re always happy to share.

I’m originally from India, but I lived and worked for many years in the USA. When the e-learning company I was working for closed, I applied for a visa for Australia. I just didn’t want to go back to India, plus Australia seemed like an interesting country. When I finally arrived here, I had nothing. No apartment, no friends, no job.

Then I saw the job at imc, and it just fitted perfectly. So, I applied, got it, and spent the first three months in my new country making the imc LMS my new girlfriend. I wanted to learn as much about the system as possible and really get a deep understanding. So, I did a lot of self-learning, including in the evenings and on the weekends.

Oh yes, that’s a great story. As I said, I had worked in e-learning before and had 15 years of work experience. Anyway, when I was interviewed, it was a panel including a German-speaking colleague.

First, he asked some basic questions about me – my attitude and things like that. But then he wanted to test me, so he gave me some more challenging questions. Well, I was able to answer all of them. I challenged him back and told him to give me harder questions, but I was able to answer all of those, too.

Finally, he gave me a mischievous grin and said: “Ok, now I will give you one question, and I guarantee you will not be able to answer it.” I told him to go ahead but was still optimistic. Well, he asked me a question in German – which, obviously, I couldn’t answer as I don’t speak German. It was hilarious!

No, no, of course not. While I’m having my first coffee of the morning, I read my emails and Teams messages, look at the ticket system, and check using our monitoring system whether everything’s ok, or whether there’s something needing attention urgently. Then I work through my to-do list for the day – which is not all short-term tasks, by the way.

I also have a lot of longer-term projects on the go that require a fair amount of planning. Planning is important because the kinds of changes I initiate affect everyone. If I mess something up, that could very well put 350 people out of action. That’s why good planning and communication with a range of departments are absolutely essential.

This may sound a little counter-intuitive, but what I like most of all is the creativity. As I said, my job is to try to find solutions that work for everyone, but I also have to make sure they comply with our stringent security and data protection policies. That can often be challenging to reconcile. But certain things, like hardware equipment and security updates, just have to be managed top-down to ensure they’re done properly.

I really enjoy working with other people, and the more different they are, the more exciting I find it. I mean, a call from a developer is a very different experience to a call from Marketing. Different people speak completely different languages – figuratively as well as literally. And then there are the many different nationalities and cultures here at imc. That’s quite a change from where I used to work, and I really enjoy it.

One thing I particularly appreciate about my work here is that my ideas always fall on fertile ground. There are no wrong answers, and new ideas get listened to and not dismissed out of hand. You can always bounce ideas around and try to come up with creative solutions that work for the greatest number of people.

Above all else, patience. As an IT- System Admin, you’re constantly dealing with people – communicating and explaining things and, every so often, smoothing ruffled feathers. You have to realize that most people, whatever the company, see IT projects and processes as a necessary evil. People just want things to work properly so they can get on with their job. And that’s totally legitimate, but technology is changing so rapidly that IT is constantly having to adapt.

Even so, you can’t just throw a new system at people and expect them to welcome it with open arms and work with it, no questions asked. You have to get the affected departments onboard early on, involve them, be patient, and understand what they need and how they work. Just because a system is a huge hit with Sales doesn’t mean it’s assured of rave reviews in Content, and vice versa.

Hence, as well as patience and good communication skills, you also need empathy. I have to put myself in the other person’s shoes so that I can understand what the problem is and how I can support them. And if things do start getting heated, I need to get alongside those concerned and calm them down.

In day-to-day terms, that means you need to be able to read between the lines. If I can tell from the tone of the e-mail that the writer is extremely annoyed, then I can reach out directly and try to calm things down so that the situation doesn’t escalate. That requires experience and well-honed instincts.

Another key personal quality for being a sys admin is the ability to get to grips rapidly with new subject areas. Sometimes there are situations that require fast decisions, so you need to be able to compile and evaluate the relevant information very quickly. I may have no prior knowledge of the problem someone is writing to me about, but I still have to respond quickly with a valid answer. Hence you always need to be keen to learn new things, especially in IT, where rapid technological change is a given.

I’d say seven. During my training as an IT System Electronics Engineer, I was fortunate to have a trainer who always believed in me. He would always say that in my chosen career I was walking a fine line between genius and madness. But he made sure to teach me the things that really matter – and not just the hard skills, but the soft skills as well.

Thanks to him, I developed a certain sense of ambition and learned to stick with things, to complete my tasks reliably and to not be afraid to step into conflict situations where necessary, but without losing my calm. So, a big shout out to Volker Laufer!

My father was a primary school teacher, and he got me interested in computers at a very young age. Back in the 1980s, he wrote his own learning software for Atari and Commodore. And for my mother, who was a self-employed music teacher, he wrote a sheet music learning program in Omicron Basic. Of course, I was always looking over my dad’s shoulder, and when I got my first Windows PC, I learned a lot just by experimenting and trying things out. So, when I got older, I naturally gravitated towards a career involving computers.

The fact that I am now working for an e-learning provider is a source of great pride for my parents, because in a sense I’ve brought the family full-circle. I feel the same way, which is why I’m able to identify very closely with imc’s values and products. It’s like I’m getting back to my roots.

Well, there’s the company’s size, of course, but mainly it’s the communication culture. Here, whenever I introduce something new, it takes two weeks tops for everyone to get on board with it, including everyone over in Australia. At my last employer, it would take an eternity, even though they don’t have any locations outside Germany. Here, people talk to each other, share ideas, and read the updates that I post in the blog.

But the biggest difference is the mindset. At imc, the attitude to change is more positive than negative. I never have to explain to anyone that IT changes and that they can’t keep doing things the same way they’ve been doing them for the last 15 years. Perhaps that’s due to the greater diversity here, and to the average employee age, which I think is about 38.

The people here also have a relaxed way of dealing with each other – there’s no stuffy business etiquette, just a willingness to help one another. And if you’re going through a tough time personally, that’s ok too. You can talk about it and get support.

Here’s a recent example that says a lot about our culture around mistakes and how we get along with one another. I was working on something that I failed to think through properly, and, as you’d expect, when the admin screws up, it affects the whole company. It wasn’t anything major, but it was still annoying. Pretty soon, one of my colleagues stormed into my office in a rage and had a complete meltdown over it. But that evening, we spoke about it again over a beer or two, and it was fine.

Mistakes happen, and people here accept that. Nobody holds that mistake against me, because they all know it wasn’t malicious and because I admitted it immediately and apologised. Plus, they know me as someone who does a good job and is always willing to help.

It might only have been one year, but it feels like ten – and in a really good way! I feel like I’ve been here forever because I’ve already gotten to know so many people and worked on so many projects and systems – I guess what I’m saying is, I feel needed. There is still a lot to do, obviously, and the processes are not quite the way I would like them to be, but we’re getting there.

Here at imc, my work is valued, people take the time to thank me, and I feel there’s a very healthy culture around conflict and mistakes. Discussions here are based on reasoned arguments. Rather than rejecting new ideas as a matter of course, the people here embrace change and accept that change also means new technology. That’s because change isn’t just about how you work; it’s also about how your workplace is equipped and what the systems are behind it.

I think we could do more to raise imc’s profile as an employer. For example, when I first applied, I knew virtually nothing about the company. Having said that, I was really impressed with the overall application process.

I also really liked the Welcome Days organized by the HR department and the way I was onboarded and welcomed into the fold. I would like to see imc build on this positive applicant experience and inspire more people to join the company – and hence also join my team.

I’m sure we can manage that. Thank you for sharing these valuable insights. You clearly love your job. Long may that continue!

“Full of shenanigans” – that’s a beautiful phrase, right? It’s the first thing that came to mind when I first spoke to Oliver Nussbaum. It sums him up perfectly, as if the phrase was coined especially for him. You will soon understand why.

Olli is a Managing Director of imc Austria. In the late 1990s, he started an e-learning company – while dropping out of university and long before anyone had even heard of e-learning. When imc AG bought his company in 2008, he was kept on the payroll. In 2012, he became Managing Director of imc Austria, a role he now shares with his colleague Marc Müller.

In this interview, he shares how his understanding of work-life balance and career success has changed over the years, what he considers his most important task, and what really drives him up the wall.

My job is to ensure that things run smoothly. Essentially, it is my responsibility to create a working environment for our employees that provides them with everything they need while also making them satisfied and keen to come to work. I clear their path as much as possible and remove obstacles so they can focus on their actual job. People want jobs that meet these four criteria: a great work atmosphere, interesting tasks, flexible working hours and adequate remunerations.

In recent years, priorities have shifted, and money has become less important. Of course, pay has to be fair. Yet, few will stay in a job if it falls short on the other factors – if the work atmosphere is poor, the employer is inflexible, or tasks are repetitive and boring.

Here in Austria, our team comprises 27 members. Most of us come to the office at least once or twice a week. We hold all our important team meetings on a Monday, and we all come in that day. The other four days are flexible. Some come in almost every day, others really only do on a Monday.

We were absolutely certain that we wanted to remain flexible after corona – especially when we saw that productivity shot up by almost 30% when we were forced to work from home! I keep a close eye on working hours to avoid overtime, and I strive to keep fluctuation close to zero. What you need to consider is that after 5, 10 or even 15 years with the company, the wealth of knowledge a team member accumulates is so profound that it becomes almost impossible to replace them.

This is why it is so important for me to create employee satisfaction, so that both our new and our long-time employees say: I love working here!

Well, no. One glance at our output puts paid to that suggestion. Of course, I do place a lot of trust in my employees, and I put them first – as a person. However, I can only offer that flexibility if our corporate objectives are met. I expect absolute honesty, team spirit and a willingness to take responsibility. We are a team and think as a team. If one link in this chain becomes a burden on others, I will remove it sooner rather than later.

A person who compromises the collective effort, refuses to take responsibility for their work or offloads their tasks onto others will not have a future with us. I communicate this very clearly from day one to ensure everyone knows the script.

Honesty really is something I deeply care about. I am always totally honest to myself and others. The opinions I hold are not always that popular. Some will dislike that. However, I also don’t have an issue with others giving it to me straight. As a Managing Director, I need to be able to handle that. It is part of my job, and I would rather people let their frustration out on me than on my team. Our hierarchies are very flat. We don’t just preach an open-door policy because it’s cool. Everyone knows that they can come to me with any issue whatsoever. And they do.

To get back to your question: Honesty already starts during recruitment. I communicate our flat hierarchies very clearly from the outset. The last thing I would want is new team members getting the wrong idea about promotion opportunities and the like. Our structure naturally limits traditional progression through the ranks. Where we are not limited is in constantly offering new and exciting client projects and novel products like the imc Express authoring tool we developed in Austria.

Now, I also expect openness and honesty towards and from our clients, and I expect dealings to be on an equal footing. I cannot promise or sell anything our clients don’t need. It really is that simple.

After finishing high school, I went to university to study business management. But I successfully dropped out after a few years. Nonetheless, that time was very valuable to me. For instance, during my semester abroad in Colorado, USA, I studied computer design. This was in the mid-1990s. Back then, you could hardly even find a PC in Europe.

I learned a lot about graphic design and got into intermediate and small film production. That sparked the idea to create my own learning videos. Thus, I got together with my former partner to start an e-learning company. The thing is, in the German-speaking region, nobody really knew what e-learning was supposed to be, and nobody understood what we were trying to do.

That was a really exciting time. It was huge fun. We had a proper garage start-up. We hired a room right above the employee shop of a Siemens branch. So, you could walk into the building and buy a washing machine with your computer-based training.

As the company grew, I took on different responsibilities. I handled sales, for example. At some point, my studies got in the way, so I dropped them to give all my focus to the company. We grew to 25 employees across the DACH region, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, that is, before selling the company to imc in 2008. That was a massive change for me personally. All of a sudden, I went from being an entrepreneur to an employee. That said, I think more like an entrepreneur now than I ever did before!

Above all, you need great social skills and empathy, and be a good judge of character. You also need to know what really matters. You cannot waste time with micromanagement. You need to delegate. A good Managing Director must be able to hire people who can do things better than them – without any hint of fear. I consider that a key competence.

On the other hand, you also need to have experience in the business and the environment. You also need to be open-minded, draw on a broad knowledgebase, and have at least some understanding of pretty much any issue – enough to enable you to judge how important or urgent these issues are, and how your market and your customers think.

In a nutshell, there are three things I consider crucial: First of all, social skills. That includes the ability to hire the right people. Secondly, a healthy approach to delegation. Thirdly, keeping an eye on the big picture without losing focus.

My definition has changed many times over the years. During different stages of my life, professional success meant something different to me. In the beginning, I always wanted more: more customers, more revenue, more employees. I wanted to see the company take the big stage. The sale to imc seemed like a perfect fit for that ambition.

Today, I primarily define success by how satisfied my employees and how happy my customers are. I no longer need to be the centre of attention. I’m happy for others to take the credit. For me personally, status symbols and other financial aspects are now taking a backseat. Work-life balance has become a bit of a buzzword, but the “life” part is very important to me. In the past, I lived to work. I have become a lot more relaxed. It has been a few years since I put in a Christmas shift.

I also think that success means not taking things personally and developing a certain detachment while preserving your capacity for an emotional response. Taking breaks, trying to see the positives in anything, being able to laugh at things. The Dalai Lama said something along the lines of: “I love it when people laugh, because that is when they have new ideas.” My goal is to spend the rest of my working life in a way that allows me to retire but makes me want to come to work, simply because I enjoy it.

I cannot stand deliberate incompetence. We briefly touched on taking responsibility earlier. What really drives me up the wall and – to me – is very much a sign of incompetence is when people deliberately approach something with tunnel vision.

When they refuse to look to the left or right and claim “I wasn’t told to do that” or “It never said that in the requirements specs.” It’s not a healthy mindset. If you are responsible for a project, you really have to take responsibility. You have to make sure that it works. Of course, you can and should consult specialists – but ultimately, you are responsible. Responsibility is not something you can dump on someone else.

Another thing I take great issue with is unfounded accusations. I think I made it very clear that anyone can come and tell me what they think. I don’t want them to mince their words, but I do expect these opinions to be plausible and have a basis.

To be quite honest, I also drive people around me nuts. I come late to meeting, I talk too much, I’m not perfect. But let’s carry on.

There’s been more than a few! This client contacted us with an issue, and we were struggling to really grasp what was going on. So, we asked her to send us a screenshot of the error message. Now, she took a slightly complicated approach: She opened a screenshot image in the editor, took a photograph of that and send us that photo. It showed the wall behind the computer, adorned with an image of a naked man. Of course, we all had a good laugh about that.

Some of the other stories I’d rather tell over a beer and off the record...

That might be the right thing to do. Thank you very much for this interesting and very entertaining interview, Olli!

In every company, there are people everyone knows. You always see them around, but cannot help asking: “What exactly do they do?” Of course, the opposite is true of certain other individuals. People who prefer to stay in the background, who are busy backstage – yet everyone knows who they are and just how important they are to keeping things running.

That is the sort of person Gajarajan Shanmugalingam aka Gajan is. Gajan has been with imc for eleven years. He is one of the lynchpins in learning management system (LMS) integration. In this interview, he shares what exactly his role as Head of Technical Consulting entails, what skills a technical consultant needs to bring to the table, and why he took his office on the road.

At least at imc, Technical Consultants and Business Consultants work together very closely. However, us Technical Consultants tend to join the projects a bit later. The Business Consultants advise our customers on how the imc Learning Suite – our learning management system (LMS) – works, and how they can leverage that. They explain how different processes are mapped, what can be configured and such.

We take care of the more profound technical details. We discuss, install and support aspects like database servers, operating systems or single sign-on. We also help to ensure that the LMS rollout runs smoothly for the customer and handle customised adjustments – both in the project phase and during operation. Sometimes, we are roped in at an earlier stage to assist with steps like feasibility studies.

Absolutely. At imc, we are extremely flexible in general. Nearly all departments allow for a large part of the work being done from home, while keeping the office available. However, we have no desire to completely switch to remote work. Our full team regularly meets in the office, and on those occasions, we also go out for meals together, hold workshops and have longer meetings. Personally, I come in at least once a week. That helps me maintain a personal connection to my team and other colleagues.

To be quite honest, I think corona was actually good for our company. I doubt this shift in mindset towards greater flexibility would have been realised this quickly otherwise. It has now become apparent that productivity is not compromised when people work from their home office.

In fact, they even tend to get more work done. That removes any real need to force everyone back into the office or establish fixed office days. Each team can decide for themselves what works best for them.

Most of us have a traditional IT degree. But that’s not really a prerequisite. While we do look for appropriate technical understanding, we equally welcome applicants who gained this through an IT-related traineeship or other professional experiences.

The ability to think holistically and analytically is far more important than qualifications: To see the big picture and be creative in finding solutions for the issues at hand. Java is our core programming language. We also use JS frameworks for the frontend and employ various relational databases.

Above all, customer centricity. The ability to put yourself into the customer’s shoes, to understand their problems and find solutions. I consider it crucial to be willing to learn, to try and test things, to always seek new understanding, to remain curious.

Now, you are never just left to your own devices – We really are and work as a team. We also made a point of looking out for each other throughout the lockdowns. We are not beyond telling a team member off for working late into the night. We consider ourselves a unit and take responsibility for one another. We can only achieve the best results for our customers if we work as one. And ultimately, that is our goal.

To come back to your question: Communication skills are hugely important and must not be underestimated. This might not be as much of an expectation for us techs, but we do work closely with various stakeholders, both internally and externally. If clear communication is lacking, things go wrong.

Personally, I really enjoy the fact that there are many sides to this role. If you are motivated and this prospect excites you, you should think about joining our team! We will welcome you with open arms.

As soon as you said that I had to think of my early days with imc. Back then, Andreas Pohl – who is now Director Research and Development – and I visited a major customer. We were meant to do a system migration over the weekend to avoid any disruption to their operations. So far, so good. Everything went smooth and the system go-live was planned for Monday morning.

Sunday night, we were already heading back home when the customer ran a final test and a problem occurred that we had not encountered before. I think it was some display that failed to work properly. We had to make a decision.

Where do we go from here? Postpone the go-live? Press ahead with it regardless? As Andreas was driving, I got to work. He told me a few things, and I resolved the software issue while on the road. It worked. The go-live went according to plan and the customer was happy. I will never forget my “very mobile” office, and still have to laugh thinking back on it.

I’ve interviewed quite a number of imc colleagues about what exactly their job involves. I’ve put myself in the shoes of software developers, taken a peek behind the scenes in product management, and quizzed colleagues from marketing.

But I’ve never encountered anything as complex as what my colleague Eric Andre does for a living. Eric is a software architect, responsible for the imc Learning Management System (LMS). In our interview, he told me what Connect Four and his job have in common, how he trained as a software architect, and what the distinction between happiness and joy has to do with his work.

To understand what a software architect does, you first need to understand the function of architecture in software. Architecture refers to the fundamental way in which an entire system is organized – the basic framework. It specifies both the individual components that make up the system and the relationships, or dependencies, that exist between them.

Hence building a house is an apt metaphor. When you’re planning a house, there are certain things you must specify clearly at the outset. You can leave room for future additions, obviously, but if, for example, you want to be able to add another level at some point, you’ll need to allow for that when planning the foundations.

Software is similar in that sense. On the one hand, it must be flexible and open to change rather than static and ossified. But on the other, certain limits and properties must be maintained in the system at all times.

Connect Four is also a good metaphor. Here, architecture is like the blue grid of the game: it provides a structure within which the individual tokens are flexibly arranged and re-arranged. But it only works if the grid is designed to support this.

Yes, that’s part of it. But I also have to make decisions very early on as to what might be important later on. That’s always a bit like gazing into a crystal ball. But with software architecture, it’s also like a house: if everything is working properly, you don’t give it a second thought. If it’s well planned, there won’t be any problems up front.

But planning doesn’t end with the initial build. It’s an ongoing process. It costs time and money, with no immediately obvious benefits. But if you don’t plan, and you just keep on building, then sooner or later things can get really expensive. There’s a great quote from Brian Foote that sums it up beautifully: “If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture!”

I usually get up fairly early, sometime between six and seven, and go running for an hour. Then I have a coffee, preferably outside in the garden. That’s when I start thinking about my day. I have a not to-do list, and every day I jot down what I want to achieve and how I intend to go about it. In doing so, I always have our roadmap in the back of my mind.

Most mornings, work starts with our team meeting, with me generally pacing back and forth. I prefer to work standing up anyway, and I’m always moving around because I always have a lot to think through, and movement helps me order my thoughts.

In the late afternoon, I often go for an hour’s walk or do some gardening, after which I go back to my (standing) desk. My working day ends once I’ve done everything I set out to do that day. This flexibility and the freedom to switch between periods of high intensity and relaxation is very important to me.

Good software architecture demands an incredible amount of time and effort. And even then, sometimes you just have to accept that what you’ve come up with won’t work, and that you have to tear it up and start again. Only when I’ve thought everything through in the minutest detail and looked at it again and again from every angle do I know that I have given it enough thought.

That’s when the real work begins and I start defining processes and process flows, document requirements, and talk to my team, the developers and other teams. That might sound simple, but believe me, there are a lot of people and departments involved. The Executive Board, too, needs to sign off because the architecture affects the entire system.

Not through any classic apprenticeship or any one course of study. There are usually various certificates and modules involved. In most cases, including mine, you end up in this role at some point after starting out in software development. Software developers progress through various stages from junior to senior, at which point career paths branch off in various directions and you’re referred to as an individual contributor.

If you want to continue along the hands-on technical career path, you can work your way up to fellow engineer. Alternatively, if you prefer a management role, your career and further development options range from engineering manager all the way up to CTO. Or you can go into software architecture. The journey probably varies from company to company and industry to industry. But ultimately you progress from being a software developer to being an architect who must learn to delegate some of their previous responsibilities as a developer.

These days, there are various kinds of software architect, and each has a different focus. For example, there are enterprise architects, who are responsible for verifying that the organisation’s IT strategy is aligned with its mission. It’s their job to analyse both business properties and the external environment and to define all business needs.

Then there are solution architects, whose task is to evaluate all business needs and develop solutions in the form of products or services. They are the interface between business analysts and IT experts.

And finally, there are domain – or technical – architects, who mostly work as part of a team and tend to specialize in one particular technology. They can also work as technical project managers. These software architects work collaboratively to ensure the overall system has the flexibility, scalability and security required in order to meet business needs.

Adaptability, the ability to transfer and apply knowledge to new areas, and analytical skills. I need to be able to familiarise myself with new subject areas and problems very quickly and transfer my existing knowledge to new situations.

For instance, I’m not the best developer by any stretch of the imagination, but I know enough to be able to understand problems and quickly get a handle on the issues involved. Good communication skills are also very important, as I deal with a wide range of stakeholders.

I used to work at a large US corporation, and things were done very differently there in several respects. For example, decision-making processes are much shorter there, and people are more inclined just to give something a try. Here in Germany, there’s generally a lot more discussion and planning before something gets implemented.

I’m very happy with the overall situation here at imc. The people here are very open and honest. That came across right from the outset, during my job interview and the onboarding process. But I also like the way people deal with one another. And then there are all those in-house events and knowledge-transfer opportunities.

I also really like our approach to design here – it’s all so cohesive. Plus, I like the painstaking attention to detail here, and the fact that people notice when you go the extra mile. It’s not all strait-laced and serious either – people know how to have a bit of a laugh without being puerile. I suppose it’s a little like working for a start-up, albeit one with more structure.

Also, in my role, I’m able to work with a very wide range of information and levers, and imc always gives me really good support in that regard.

Professionally, several. At a personal, human level, the actor Keanu Reeves springs to mind. Despite his immense success, he remains grounded, uses public transport and stands up for others. I find that truly remarkable. Amid all the rapid changes of our modern world, it shows that there are still immutable principles and values that we all share, or at least should share.

Indeed! And that wraps things up nicely. Thank you for your time, Eric. Here’s wishing you continued joy in your work!

During my studies in Communications Technology, I sought advice on various jobs and graduate opportunities. I was unsure what exact role would suit me, as I take a fairly broad approach and have many interests. Even after completing some internships and holding various part-time jobs, I had still not quite figured out, which direction I should take.

My career advisor suggested I look at business consultancy, and I originally applied for that field with imc. My interview was very encouraging, and I was very much able to see myself in that role.

But then things took a different turn. It was quite funny. HR not only looked at the Consulting vacancy, but also at a position in Hosting. Since I have a sound base of technical know-how, they asked if I could also imagine taking on that role. I thought that was a really exciting idea. Soon after, I interviewed for that position with Matthias Fay, the Head of Hosting and now my manager. Again, it just felt right.

So, I was left to choose between Consulting and Hosting. The decision was not easy, but in the end, I went for the Hosting team – and I’m really happy there.

In very simple terms, hosting means providing webservices on the internet. In our case, that is our customers’ learning management systems. For the greatest part, these are hosted in AWS or Azure Cloud.

As Hosting Engineers, we are responsible for installing and monitoring these systems, make adjustments for changes and deliver software updates. We also carry out maintenance and ensure that all systems are up to date.

Other key aspects are database management and backups. It is always worth having a backup in case something crashes. It’s very much the same as with a personal computer. Right now, we are very focused on simplifying certain processes. Many tasks are still performed manually, and we aim to automate them, so they can simply run in the background.

I really like how versatile the job is, but also love how the different departments collaborate. For example, we are working closely with Support and Business Consulting. That allows you to gain a much wider range of insights, and I find that very exciting.

I also truly appreciate my colleagues making a great deal of time for me. Given that I’m just starting out in my career, I have to learn most things from scratch. Here, everyone supports me and really gives me a chance to grow into the projects and my responsibilities. That sort of development and encouragement is not something I take for granted. However, I want to do the job and I want to learn, and I think my colleagues know and honour that.

Naturally, an interest and a good understanding of technical matters are key. On top of that, it is important to focus on solutions, take responsibility, be diligent and stay focused. After all, we interact with sensitive client systems and data, and they need to be handled with great care.

I believe willingness to learn is a vital aspect, since the technology is always changing. That is something to always keep in mind – You never stop learning, you have to keep at it. Of course, team spirit and good communication skills are hugely important, but that applies to most jobs.

Back in my university days, I watched the anime series One Piece. It very much appealed to me. It’s about a boy called Luffy who is travelling the world in his search for a treasure that is said to be impossible to find. Yet, he never gives up. It really inspired me, and I could somewhat identify with that: I am also very determined and ambitious, and I never give up. I doubt I would have come this far without those traits.

Apart from that, women in IT always inspire me. You often hear that women are still an exception in this sector, or even that IT and women are different worlds. That view couldn’t be further from the truth. While I think we have a long way to go, a few inspirational women have already achieved a lot.

imc AG offers vocational training in a range of fields. This includes IT, new media, and accounting. One of those trainees is me, Marc Müller, 24 years old.

Since I’ve always been good with numbers, I was looking for a traineeship that would allow me to utilise this talent. I decided on a traineeship as office management professional with a business management and controlling elective. Thus, the Finance department became my primary place of work for the next 2.5 years, but I was also able to contribute my skills in other departments.

I was given the opportunity to gain some experience with imc before starting my actual vocational training. During my interview, I was offered the opportunity to do a 3-month internship first, so I could gain insights into the profession and the company. After these 3 months, I already knew that both role and employer were a good match for me. Especially the positive atmosphere at work inspired me. The actual traineeship started in August 2019.

In the course of my internship, I had already become familiar with the processes and workflows in my department, allowing me to take on my first real tasks from day one without relying on people to explain everything to me. Initially, those tasks were limited to accounting files – invoices, bank statements and similar documents. However, I was soon assigned more complex tasks to complete independently. I learned how to work with SAP and how to record all accounting processes in that software.

Of course, help was always on hand if I was stuck, and someone would go through the issue with me. As time went on, I became more and more independent, and even took on the creation of the full payment run, that is the payment of all due invoices. This was then checked and transferred to the banking program for payment.

One thing that stands out with an office management qualification is that I could gain knowledge in various departments. My trainer Markus Dilly introduced me to controlling tasks and things like proper invoicing. I also created order confirmations for accepted offers and created the relevant projects in a special online tool.

I completed work placements in three different imc departments, each lasting 4-6 weeks. An experienced team member would be assigned to me as a mentor for each placement, who would walk me through the tasks and particularities of that department.

First up was Sales. Here, I gained first experiences in dealing with customers. While I didn’t call companies myself, I often listened into the telephone meetings. I learned how to best present the benefits of our products to win over the customer, and how to react when the tone gets a little rougher.

In the secretary’s office, I processes incoming and outgoing post, as well as orders for individual imc employees. The corona pandemic cut my time in this department short, and since we also fast-tracked my traineeship, it was time to move onto the next area.

My time in Marketing was far more creative than in other departments. I learned how to create Instagram stories and write articles for our website. I was also shown how to create public awareness for our company, as well as inform colleagues within the company about the latest developments.

2 days a week, I went to vocational school, which would change things up a bit. We acquired a foundation for our future professional life. Subjects ranged from accounting through human resource management to marketing, and also covered all sorts of tasks expected in an office environment.

The school had to close due to the pandemic, and face-to-face classes were suspended for almost 1 year. We switched to an online format with lectures and exercise sheets to fill the gap as much as possible. Nevertheless, I was glad to finally return to school.

Of course, we also felt the pandemic at imc, but at least the home office arrangements allowed me to keep working from home. I only had to come to the office once or twice a week to print off documents and process accumulated files.

At university, theory is often the main focus, while practical application is skimmed over at best. That’s why it pays to arrange an internship or student job in a company – and it’s never too early to apply for that. This prepares students for their future professional life and helps to avoid the struggles frequently experienced when looking for an entry-level role. Quite often, it is these very jobs that become a ticket to the dream job.

That is exactly what happened to me – Doreen Hartmann, former working student in Marketing at imc AG. In this article, I will share everything about my journey at imc and how motivation and courage can become a recipe for success. But let’s start at the beginning...

In September 2019, I had not long started my business administration degree at Saarland University in Saarbrücken. The perfect time to figure out what I wanted to do after graduation and gain some early work experience in that field. Of course, that meant I needed a student job.

All said and done. In my degree course, I really liked marketing and management. I’m not much of a number cruncher and generally have more of a creative mindset. Therefore, I started looking for a student job in marketing. Soon after, I noticed a vacancy posted by imc. However, I was unable to meet all requirements listed in the job profile, because I had only worked in catering and retail – as many students do.

I still tried my luck regardless, and soon received an invitation for an interview! A job offer followed just three days later, and I clinched a contract as a working student in the Marketing & Communications department. While I lacked professional experience, I scored with good preparation, dedication, and motivation. That was the first step in my journey with imc.

I started my student job in October 2019 with little marketing knowledge, but a generous helping of enthusiasm. The first few weeks were marked by a wealth of new expertise, comprehensive processes I needed to learn and incomprehensible terminology. I somewhat felt as if I was back at school. It seemed like I had to start from scratch and learn everything anew. As I would later find out, this did pay off.

Initially, I was given minor tasks like copywriting for our social media channels, event preparation and smaller research tasks. At this point, I was also introduced to a new marketing automation tool – and I was involved in its implementation from day one. I could participate in all workshops, which afforded me the opportunity to gain sufficient knowledge so that I could take on my own tasks.

My area of responsibility gradually and consistently grew, and I was soon entrusted with my first own projects. I had the opportunity to help implement our new website and handled our internal “success ticker” that informs imc employees about the previous month’s achievements. I also took on the editing of use cases for our main product – the imc Learning Suite – and the preparation of our external newsletter E-Learning Insights that keeps anyone interested in e-learning up to date on the latest e-learning trends. We all live by the motto: “Get involved! There are better things to do than making coffee and photocopies!”

With that, my responsibilities also increased. If you were being very diplomatic, my first newsletter creation might pass as having room for improvement. Looking back, it was a bit of a disaster. Thinking about how my work is sent out to hundreds of people and that errors cannot be rectified did not help, and it made me nervous. But we all know: Practice makes perfect, and challenges help you grow.

That is exactly how my newsletter disaster developed into a newsletter showpiece, and only a few weeks later, I was not only permanently responsible for our E-Learning Insights Newsletter, but also for our exclusive customer newsletter.

In my personal experience, imc considers working students full-fledged members of the company. Instead of simply delegating unthankful tasks, people at imc take great care to ensure working students learn and develop. You participate in monthly team meetings, project-related activities and internal events. Of course, the benefits don’t stop with work: We all love our CandyBar, additional leave and employee discounts. Interacting with colleagues is a way of life: Colleagues from different departments enjoy a quick chat in the kitchen while making coffee, catch up over lunch or toast to the weekend on a Friday afternoon.

As a student, flexibility was also extremely important to me, as I had to juggle university life, work, and leisure. The company was very flexible and let me set a schedule for the days and times I would come to the office to ensure that my work did not compromise my studies. Especially during the often stressful exam period, the option to move working days and make up the hours in the semester break was available.

Personal development and networking across city and country boundaries is also made easy. Various internal employee programmes are available to all employees, and that specifically includes working students. That includes the Brand Ambassador Programme, as well as various projects and events on Diversity and Female Empowerment which strengthen diversity in the company. Other activities, internal events and regular updates from the Executive Board strengthen solidarity and team spirit, which is a top priority in the imc Marketing Team anyway. At imc, all working students are part of the team – and that feels great!

My degree course was coming to a close, and I kept asking myself: What next? Thankfully, imc offered me a position as Junior Marketing & Communications Manager, allowing me to continue my journey. At the interface between Marketing and Communication, I will now support my own campaigns, maintain internal channels, and even start my own coverage of certain topics in addition to my existing projects.

I can also apply the marketing knowledge gained as a working student in global processes and product campaigns, guaranteeing 360-degree training. As a permanent employee, I also benefit from the flexibility of hybrid work, and am free to decide whether I want to work from home or come to the office. Now, exactly two years after I started my student job, I’m sitting here, writing my very first article about my early days at imc, looking back at my journey in satisfaction.

Finally, I want to send everyone toeing the line for their start into their professional on their way with this piece of advice: Go for it! Work experience is not always the be all and end all. Motivation, interest, and ambition will often count for more. Let’s be honest: When a company is hiring, they will often ask for specific knowledge and skills. Yet, you have to start somewhere. If nobody gives you a chance when you enter the job market, where is that experience meant to come from?

So, let’s hear it for all companies that open the door for us students and newcomers and let us enter the professional world! Looking back, I highly recommend seizing this opportunity during your studies.

What are you waiting for? Apply before someone beats you to it!

I have been working permanently in the imc Marketing & Communication Team since 2021. The mix of creative content creation, social media and online marketing activities is what excites me most about my job.

My goal is to inspire people with creative and innovative content and to make the imc brand more tangible.

My passion besides my job? Travelling a lot and discovering the most beautiful places in the world. I'm always happy to receive feedback or suggestions at [email protected]!

“When companies introduce a learning management system, they need to understand that it is more than just another software. The objective must be to help people master the tasks they face in their job,” says Uwe Hofschröer, Head of the Learning Strategy Consulting Team at imc. In this role, he offers companies holistic advice on all aspects of digital learning.

He strives to place the employees at the heart of the offer, rather than the system or learning content. In this Job Slot interview, he also shares how he arrived at this job, and why he might as well be a note pad.

The job title is rather abstract because it covers a broad spectrum of topics and tasks. The basic idea of learning strategy consulting is that we support customers whenever they face a more complex issue. Rather than offering advice on the introduction of a learning management system (LMS) or the key aspects of content development, learning strategy consulting focuses on the development of a holistic learning offer.

This is particularly relevant for companies making a fresh start with their digital learning offer and companies with little experience in this field. We help them consider all aspects and create a framework. Even larger companies will face new issues from time to time, and we then help them address these.

Digital onboarding would be “our thing.” It is a fairly new topic for many companies. Of course, you can hire a concept designer to create a training course for you. The difference is that we are looking at the learner experience as a whole, rather than just the training course itself.

The learners are at the heart of the offer, and we need to start by identifying their needs. What content do they need? Which learning formats are suitable? How do these need to be designed? Next, we naturally examine how the training can be embedded in the LMS: How do we integrate it into the learning paths? How is the training presented? What interface does the learner see?

We are not restricting our evaluation to the content or the LMS but consider the entire learning journey. In a nutshell, learning strategy consulting covers traditional consultancy and needs assessments, analysis, and concepts design. We often support client projects for longer periods, coordinate the implementation or act as sparring partners.

It’s not really clear-cut like that. Naturally, many SMEs never paid much attention to digital learning in the past and are keen to catch up now. Corona has certainly given many a big push in that direction.

However, many big corporations with a considerable track record in corporate learning and entire departments dedicated to learning and development are trying to move on from their focus on traditional face-to-face training. They might have employed the odd web-based training course, but now realise that this entire field is changing.

They will often lack experience or expertise in switching to hybrid or digital concepts and integrating them in a meaningful way. It’s also worth noting that attitudes towards proofs of learning success are changing.

The learning status “completed” only means that the learner has completed the training course. It offers no indication of whether the learner actually understood the contents or whether it will help them in their daily work.

Initially, I studied social sciences, aiming to do something in the field of journalism. However, I quickly realised that I’m not really cut out for that and took various courses in other fields as part of my degree. That also included technology, sociology and business management. In the early 2000s, I joined a research team examining what was a revolutionary subject back then: How universities can leverage the internet.

You could say that was my first venture into the world of digital learning, even if that term did not yet exist at the time. After this project, I took on a job as a concept designer with a professional development agency, where I initially created online and sales training, as well as early software training. After some time, I was given accounts that required me to support digital handbooks for car dealers. This gave me an insight into software projects and concept creation for learning platforms. I also learned how these platforms and courses are rolled out in large companies. It was a great learning experience.

Then, I joined imc. My background – especially the experience and insights gained with various customers and projects – helps me a lot in my current role.

I have to say that seven – or even five – years ago, I would never have thought that a job like this would exist. Back then, the professional development design and strategy was very much a company’s inhouse competence. However, the demand for multi-faceted consultations is increasing rapidly, not only for technological issues. The entire field of learning and development is quickly gaining ground – and complexity. It is difficult for companies to cover all the relevant aspects.

It is always exciting and full of surprises. Each project and each set of customer requirements is different. There is very little routine. You need to engage with the customer and be tactful to find out what they need.

It also works in my favour that the job is very generalist in nature. I’m not a subject-matter expert. I know a lot of things in many fields, and somehow need to bring those pieces of knowledge together. All the different aspects – technical details of the LMS, different learning formats, change management processes – impact the learning culture as well as the corporate culture. We bring them together.

One thing that is extremely important to me, and I always try to convey to our customers is this: Neither a system nor a specific training course are at the heart of corporate learning. It is about the people. Employees want or need to learn something to do their job better. Their needs must therefore be a top priority.

After all, only the users decide whether a learning offer is a success or a failure. If they don’t see something that helps them, the offer is wasted.

I found myself in a rather odd situation shortly before I joined imc. I was still working for my previous employer but had already handed in my notice and signed my contract with imc. My boss was aware of that, but the customer we had a meeting with that day had no idea. The purpose of the meeting? Helping them choose an LMS. Various providers pitched their solutions, including Sven R. Becker who is now on the imc Executive Board, but was Head of Sales at the time. While we both knew, the customer was unaware of my upcoming change of employer. Fortunately, the customer had to use a different tender procedure, so I was “off the hook” and did not have to make a recommendation on which system to choose.

The thought of analysing figures and tables in a structured manner and carefully checking cash inflows and outflows makes many people shudder. However, if we all had that attitude, it would be hard to avoid descending into chaos. That is why people like Xenia Reiter and Markus Dilly are so important. They both work in the finance department at imc Saarbrücken, and offer us an insight into their work and different areas of responsibility. They share what makes their role so attractive to them.

Markus: I started as a working student in Controlling in 2012, and took on a permanent role in 2015. I recently started leading a small team comprising our two trainees, our working student and a junior controller. I am also responsible for international invoicing and procurement management, and admin the Projectfacts system we use as a time recording and invoicing tool and to record holidays. Sales enquiries and client projects also come together in Controlling. On top of that, I support our line manager Peter in the preparation of monthly and annual financial statements.

Xenia: Like in any accounting role, I check lots of receipts and supporting documents. I am also responsible for the salaries in “my” countries, check and post bank statements, credit card statements, cash advances and so forth. While that might sound a bit monotonous at first glance, I look at it like this: The figures illustrate the interrelationships and reflect corporate actions. My job is to check if everything matches up, specifications are complied with and question transactions if necessary. Even though the work flow is always the same, it is important to check it each time and pay attention

Markus: There is no such thing as a typical day at work for me. I have no big project to keep working on, but many different tasks. Some tasks come in almost on a daily basis – giving new colleagues access to certain systems, assigning order numbers or creating new contracts or projects in our systems.

I am also often in contact with Sales, and we check things like contracts or quotations together, highlight particularities and check if the order value is adequate for the scope of the order. As the process from order creation through invoicing to booking the invoice in SAP is supported by various systems, coordination with my colleagues is very important.

Markus: I suppose. I always knew that I am good with numbers and would study something in that area. But if you asked me for my dream job, I’d probably go off in a different direction – like games journalist or games designer. However, I am realistic and was very aware of my strengths and weaknesses at a young age. I know my way around the figures, I always enjoyed it to play with numbers, so my business degree was an obvious choice. And since imc is also involved in gamification, I did find my place!

Xenia: Looking at the business degree itself, I’d say an 8. I gained an excellent overview and was introduced to many topics. Practical things, like how to structure a balance sheet or what sound accounting practice entails – I use that every day. I still remember that one of my first lectures was on this topic, and I loved it. Even though I had some difficulties with debits and credits in the beginning, it was all logical once I got my head around it.
We also learned to develop some sensitivity towards certain issues, and were shown practical examples to highlight potential stumbling blocks.

Of course, a lot is learned on the job. Every company will have different requirements for line managers, workflows and practical applications. All you can do is pick it up as time goes by.

The crazy tech guy who wanted to be a Formula 1 driver

Meet Ravi Tandon, Customer Success Manager at imc Australia

Ravi Tandon

Hi Ravi, great to meet you! How would you explain to your parents what you do as a customer success manager in e-learning?

That sounds like a very important role. What does it involve exactly?

So, you need an in-depth knowledge of our LMS, the imc Learning Suite, but you haven’t been working with the LMS the whole time you’ve been with imc? Is that right?

What do you like most about your job?

Which skills do you think are the most important for your current job?

How did you come to imc, and where did you work before?

I heard your job interview was rather funny. What happened?

What makes working at imc special compared to other companies?

Ok, and now for a few short, random questions. Please complete: When dealing with colleagues, it is especially important to me...

Which department would you like to visit for a week?

If you could travel back in time, would you choose the same career path again?

Name something that drives you up the wall?

What’s your favourite movie?

How much coffee do you drink?

What are your hopes for the future?

A Fine Line Between Genius and Madness: A Day in the Life of an IT- System Administrator

Teamwork makes the team work: A Technical Consultant debunks the myth of the Hermit Techi

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A Fine Line Between Genius and Madness: A Day in the Life of an IT- System Administrator

Q: What do you get if you combine technical savvy with the patience of a saint and a willingness to help? A: The perfect system administrator. In other words, someone like Raffael Willems, Head of Internal IT at imc. Not that life in IT is always perfect...

Raffael Willems

Hi Raffael, thanks for making time to talk to us! You’re the boss of internal IT here at imc. How would you explain to your three-year-old daughter what you do for a living?

So, your role as a system administrator is to ensure everyone at imc can do their work?

What does that look like on a day-to-day basis? Do you just sit there, waiting for people to call with their problems?

What do you like most about your job?

What personal qualities do you need to be a IT-System Administrator?

On a scale of one to ten, how well would you say your training prepared you for your current role?

What attracted you to the profession of System Administrator. How did you get into it?

In what ways does imc differ from most of your previous employers?

You’ve been with us for almost exactly a year now. What’s your reflection on how things have gone?

What would you like to change?

Living the dream as Hosting Engineer

Teamwork makes the dream work

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The rise of Mr. Hilarious – From a small garage start-up to Managing Director at imc

No. We’re not talking a Hollywood script for a new Vince Vaughn comedy. We’re telling the story of a Managing Director at imc. He reveals his most important task, and what work-life balance means to him today.

Oliver Nussbaum

Hello Olli! Thank you for taking the time. What exactly does Managing Director mean? Can you explain your role in one sentence?

Respect! That was short and sharp. Can you explain it a bit further?

Let’s talk flexibility. In 2022, imc introduced a flexible working time model under the motto: “100% flexible but not 100% remote.” How are you realising that in Austria?

Sounds like a very relaxed approach. Many a traditionalist might even accuse you of not actually working.

What exactly do you mean by honesty?

Let’s talk about you and your career. How did you train for this role? What was your career path?

What characteristics do you think a Managing Director needs to bring to the table?

How would you define professional success?

Let’s also talk about negatives. What really gets your hackles up?

To round things off – Tell us about a funny experience you had at imc.

Living the dream as Hosting Engineer

Teamwork makes the dream work

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Teamwork makes the dream work!

A Technical Consultant debunks the myth of the Hermit Techi

Gajarajan Shanmugalingam

Hello Gajan! Thank you for taking the time. How would you describe your job as a Technical Consultant to a child?

That makes sense. But I associate the word consultant with Business Consultancy. How is your role as a Technical Consultant different? Does this involve lots of close collaboration?

So, you are always in contact with the customer?

How big is your team? Where are you all based?

You’re saying it’s OK to work from home?

What skills, qualifications and training do you need to become a Technical Consultant?

What other skills are important?

What does your typical day at work look like?

What do you like best about your job? What are you looking forward to each day?

You’ve been working at imc for a while now. Can you recall a particularly funny or odd situation?

What did you want to be as a kid?

You are originally from Sri Lanka. When did you move to Germany?

Final question: Which imc office are you longing to visit?

Living the dream as Hosting Engineer

What Connect Four and Software Architecture Have in Common

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What Connect Four and Software Architecture Have in Common

Eric Andre

Hi Eric, thanks for making time for us today! I suspect your job description will be pretty meaningless to most laypeople. How would you describe your job to your grandparents?

Well, that actually sounds pretty simple. Can you explain it a bit further?

So, in other words, you have to plan something that doesn’t even exist yet?

Sounds like rather a lot of brainwork. What does your average working day look like?

So a large part of your work consists of planning. How do you know when a plan is finished and the architecture is ready for implementation? And what happens next?

How does one actually become a software architect?