Manage planning and forecasting projects part-time

Is it possible to combine work and studies? Jan Göttsche shows us how! In this Interview he will talk to us about his responsibilities in planning and forecasting, as well as explain how he manages his workday with the support of HR and a specialist team.

Hello Jan, please introduce yourself briefly.

Since April 2021, I have been employed as a part-time consultant in the field of planning and forecasting at verovis – a valantic company. I am also completing my master’s degree in business administration at the University of Applied Sciences Wedel in Hamburg. Before starting as a consultant, I had already worked for the German Federal Armed Forces [Bundeswehr] for 12 years and, in addition to my studies in business administration, I had already gained some insights into project management.

That sounds like an interesting career. How did you get to verovis – a valantic company?

As part of my master’s degree, I had already completed a mandatory internship in the controlling area, and I wanted to gain more professional experience afterwards. So I applied for an advertised student position.

During the professional and personal discussions, it quickly became clear that I am not quite the typical work student, as I have already implemented some planning and change projects due to my professional background. As an alternative, I received the offer to start part-time during my studies. I thought the idea was great, as I am already in the final stages of my studies and will write my master’s thesis as the last building block. After my graduation, I have the option to start working full-time. 

What do you do in your role and what does your day-to-day work at verovis – a valantic company look like?

Together with the project team, in my role as a consultant, I am currently managing a major planning project for an international customer in the heating industry. This is an end-to-end implementation project for which we are creating the entire planning concept. The software solution used here is Tagetik. Topics range from sales and volume planning to financial planning and CapEx planning. I am currently spending more time on the CapEx (capital expenditures) planning.

So how can you envision my typical day-to-day work? I currently work 25 hours per week and am very flexible in my time allocation. Personally, it is important to me that I can support my team in the best way possible and provide added value.
As a result, I regularly exchange ideas with project management in order to find out on which days my support is particularly needed. For example, if there is a two-day workshop, I work a little more on those days and distribute the remaining hours across the remainder of the week.

What does it look like to work part-time at verovis – a valantic company?

I have to say that working part-time works really well at verovis – a valantic company. In addition to flexible time allocation, HR and my specialist team were very supportive right from the start. There are many questions at the outset, and I am glad that my colleagues took the time to clarify these.

Of course I have less time available in my part-time role, as I am still writing my master’s thesis, but I am essentially a full-fledged project member and take responsibility in the project. I am sure that in my current project, not everyone knows that I am working part-time – which I personally think is great. This shows me that no distinction is made between full-time and part-time employees.

Thank you very much for the conversation, Jan!