Max Erdrich

Max Erdrich, Principal Consultant at transentis consulting. Read how Max's career has started, what he likes about his role, and what advice he gives to people who want to work at transentis. 

I studied industrial engineering with a focus on transport at the TU Berlin - my focus was on project management, innovation management and logistics. 

After my studies, I worked for a global trading company in Hamburg - there I supported national and international compliance, transformation and M&A projects in the strategic PMO. After 2.5 years, I then moved to transentis.

I have always been interested in solving problems, both within companies in the context of projects and across the board. Working with different experts provides variety and new challenges every day.

Principal Consultant.

For almost 6 years now - I joined transentis as a consultant, two years later I became a Senior Consultant and now I lead a team internally as a Principal Consultant. 

I like the fact that I can create a lot together with the clients and fortunately always had a pleasant working environment, no matter in which role and with which wealth of experience I entered the projects. As an external consultant, I was always given a lot of trust, so I was always able to contribute well to the project and the respective client.

I am fascinated by projects that are complex due to the underlying professionalism and the interaction of the stakeholders involved. Different expertise, ways of thinking and behavior come together here - I find it an exciting task to bring these dimensions together and keep them together over the course of a project. 

That varies and always depends on the schedule. As a rule, I start at 9 am. I then start with a quick look at the day's planning, sort out the important to-dos and see what internal and external issues are coming up. During the lunch break, I try to do a little sport or meet colleagues for lunch. The afternoon is also usually well filled with appointments. At the end of the day, I check which topics still need to be followed up, documented or prepared for the next day. As long as the topics are neatly completed or reminders are set, I can enjoy the end of the day more.

With coffee. Otherwise, mornings with children are usually more or less predictable and routine. As soon as the children are at daycare, I start work at home or in the office. I try to be in the office regularly to see my colleagues.

I am motivated when I can shape and thus advance issues for the client or internally. I am motivated when problems or challenges can be solved or at least better tackled through my involvement.

A major motivator for me is that the topics I work on interest me. I like the fact that at transentis we always take a look at the "big picture" and look at the connections between the factors that have an impact. I don't like to work in isolation in narrowly defined subject areas; I prefer to look at the overall context and consider how the dynamics work in the system at hand.

Besides laptop and headphones (+coffee), nice and competent employees are extremely important. For me, a good atmosphere in the (project) team is essential for the success of a company or a project. This is the only way to survive minor crises and keep the fun at work.

It is not worth it to pretend too much in the work environment. You have to stay true to yourself in order to be happy in your job. Personal and professional development and having fun with new things are incredibly important for job satisfaction - standing still is not a satisfying option for me.

The entry into the pandemic and how everything went smoothly. Although we had always worked live on site and thought it was the only right model, it turned out that all the remote work also had many advantages that we now benefit from in the hybrid working model. We have learned a lot for ourselves and with our clients.

But now I also understand even more how important it is to see each other in the office on a regular basis - that used to seem self-evident.

The team and the topics. We have very nice colleagues and have a very pleasant interaction with each other. Everyone brings an individual side to the company and thus enriches the corporate culture.

The company has been in existence for 25 years now and has always been able to position itself well with its clients. With our experience, which we share in the team and are constantly expanding, we as consultants have always been able to satisfy our clients, which is also very important to me personally.

Be open to the projects that come along and see what you can get the most out of. You can always learn something from the customers and colleagues and develop yourself continuously.