20 years of success: from apprenticeship to team lead
Julia, you started your career with an apprenticeship at Rödl & Partner and are now an Associate Partner. What were the milestones in your professional development at Rödl & Partner?
To be honest, I have to admit that when I started my apprenticeship as a tax assistant, I didn’t expect to stay in this profession. A year before I graduated from high school, I asked myself the question: “What do I want to do after school?” Unfortunately, I only ever knew what I definitely didn’t want to do. Fortunately, my father, who was also a tax consultant and had also worked at Rödl & Partner, suggested that I train as a tax assistant. His tip: “You can’t go wrong with an apprenticeship as a tax clerk!” So I was able to start my training in Heinrich Hübschmann’s team after graduating from high school. For someone who had never come into contact with accounting in their life and only knew “debit” and “credit” from the German language, it was a culture shock at first. But what can I say? The more I settled into the world of tax, the more I enjoyed it.
The first milestone was my very well completed training as a tax clerk. I then decided to study business administration at the Nuremberg Institute of Technology. Of course, how could it be otherwise, with a focus on taxation and accounting. During my studies, I had the opportunity to continue working as a student trainee at Rödl & Partner and expand my practical knowledge.
Further milestones included being taken on as a permanent tax assistant in the team of colleagues Wolfang Baumeister and Heinrich Hübschmann, passing the tax consultant exam three years later and being appointed Senior Associate. I had always enjoyed looking after trainees, interns and working students. In 2018, I was officially allowed to take on more responsibility, both for my team of around 5 employees and by taking on mandates. In 2019, I was appointed Associate Partner. Another career and development stage at Rödl & Partner.
I have now taken over as team leader of my former training team. We are a team of around 20 people and are currently in the process of establishing a new team structure. Being responsible for mandates on my own and leading a larger team is both challenging and rewarding.
[I really appreciate] being able to work in a large law firm, which is nevertheless family-oriented, [...] with interesting clients and, above all, wonderful colleagues from different departments and offices.
Tax consultant in tax declaration
Your job is certainly very interesting. What helps you in stressful and hectic phases?
My lovely colleagues help me in my day-to-day work. That’s why I like being in the office so much and almost never work remotely. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by such great people here. Especially in stressful times, a friendly and refreshing chat is very helpful. I can also always approach my colleagues if I have any technical queries.
To balance things out, I like to do sport. I have been figure skating professionally since I was 2 years old and have been competing with my team in synchronized figure skating, dancing ballet and hiking for around 18 years. All my colleagues who know me know that I am a very sociable person. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
What advice would you give to trainees and young professionals at Rödl & Partner?
Take the opportunity to work and network in a large and interdisciplinary company. Rödl & Partner in particular offers many opportunities for this:
Starting with our Welcome Day through to various other events: you should really take the chance to participate in such events to make contacts with colleagues from other teams and branches. As the topic of “networking and interdisciplinarity” is very important to me, I also take part in some events, e.g. the “Steuercampus”, where I take on the practical part of preparing the annual financial statements with two colleagues from my team. I am also involved in our SmartUp development program, where I am able to give lawyers an insight into accounting with my friendly colleague Meike Munderloh. I have met many interesting colleagues from different areas at our Internal Senior Associate Week as well as at our Associate Partner Days. I now also work closely with some of them in client relationships and know who I can turn to in which situation. This has resulted in friendships. For example, there are regular lunches in our company restaurant “Campino” and visits to the Cologne and Bolzano branches. An invitation from Hamburg is also still pending and waiting to be redeemed.
Thank you very much for the interview and congratulations on your 20th anniversary!
Show initiative and seize all development opportunities that are offered to you and also demand for them.
Tax consultant in tax declaration