Internship in management and IT consulting: Insightful and diverse

published on 19 July 2021

My name is Catharina, I am 21 years old and I am currently in my fourth semester of business administration at the EBS University of Economics and Law. This is my second time as an intern at Rödl & Partner in the service line of management and IT consulting, but first I would like to briefly tell you how I came to Rödl & Partner in the first place.

My way to Rödl & Partner 

At EBS, a total of two internships have to be completed during the bachelor’s programme – after the second and fourth semesters. I quickly decided to look for a position in consulting for my first internship, because I am very interested in this area and I wanted to get to know the everyday life of a consultant better. Due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, I looked for opportunities in my hometown Nuremberg. One of my friends recommended Rödl & Partner to me, because she was a working student in tax consulting at the time. 
 
That aroused my interest and after more detailed research I found out that Rödl & Partner not only offers legal advisory, tax consulting, Businnes Process Outsourcing and audit services, but also has a department for management and IT consulting. Without further ado, I applied and received an acceptance letter a short time later. As the internship, which was originally scheduled for June and July, drew closer, the Corona pandemic and the associated conditions still had companies like Rödl & Partner firmly in their grip. While many of my fellow students received rejections for their internships due to the critical situation or had not even found a position in the first place, things did not look too good for me either. Nevertheless, I hoped to be able to take up the internship, as I was keen to gain my first experience in the field of management consulting. After several phone calls with the managing director of Rödl Consulting GmbH, Mr. Jens Hinkelmann, the good news finally arrived: The internship – shortened to six weeks – can take place!

Expectations for my first internship 

First of all, given the Corona situation, I was very happy to get an internship in management and IT consulting. Nevertheless, I was very excited at first, as I didn’t know what to expect or what my tasks would be. Since I had only completed my second semester at that time and had not previously done any internships in the business sector, my expectations regarding the demands of my tasks were rather low. Of course, I hoped to acquire as much new knowledge as possible and to gain in-depth insights into everyday working life. However, the reality in larger companies often looks different, especially if you don’t have any experience yet and are only at the beginning of your studies. In short, I was open to any kind of task, but I expected to be making coffee, copying and sorting files. In the end, things turned out quite differently...

My first working day 

The first day of work was coming up! On the one hand, I was a bit nervous, since I didn’t know what to expect; on the other hand, I was super motivated and ready to finally get started. I was welcomed by the assistant, Gabriele Stell, who briefly showed me around and introduced my colleagues. From the very beginning I felt very comfortable – on the one hand because of the familiar atmosphere among the colleagues and on the other hand because of the very pleasant working climate. I was also treated like a full member of the team right from the start. After the short introduction, things started right away. I was to spend the first two of the six weeks of the internship in the SAP Supply Chain & Logistics team. All in all, I was already excited after the first day, my expectations were completely exceeded and I was full of anticipation for the rest of the internship.

The course of the internship 

In the first two weeks, which I spent in the SAP Supply Chain & Logistics department, I was able to gain a lot of theoretical knowledge regarding the functionality of ERP systems, implementation of SAP, various project management methods and process flows in companies. I particularly liked the fact that colleagues took the time to explain various topics or questions to me in more detail in addition to their own activities. This helped me a lot to first understand which fields of activity IT consulting covers and which methods and systems are used. I was also involved in current projects and took part in a public tendering process for a potential project. 
 
For the next two weeks, I worked in the SAP Business Intelligence & Analytics team. I was most worried about this, as this area mainly deals with the preparation and analysis of data, which requires very good technical skills. Since I consider myself to be rather average from a technical point of view and this is not one of my biggest interests, I was a bit nervous at first whether I would be able to operate new programs properly right away. But again, everything worked out well in the end: I was able to complete the tasks assigned to me and definitely improved my technical skills significantly. During the two weeks, I created a life dashboard with SAP Analytics Cloud, with the goal of clearly displaying fiscal content and highlighting important key figures. Furthermore, I learned how to edit more complex process flows using BPMN, a specific graphical representation of business processes.
 
Finally, I spent the last two weeks in the marketing department for the entire Rödl Consulting GmbH. Again, I was given exciting and varied tasks, which I personally also enjoyed the most. Among other things, this included the creation of a competitive analysis to compare Rödl & Partner with other providers of software implementations. In addition, I was allowed to draft proposals for a new website layout and write success stories on various successfully completed projects.

Summary

Overall, I was able to learn a lot and at the same time also gain in-depth insights into the daily work of a consultant in various fields of activity. This not only expanded my knowledge of the profession itself, but I was also able to benefit from the things I learned in the further course of my studies. A particularly positive aspect is that at Rödl & Partner you are integrated into the team as a full member right from the start and also get the chance to actively contribute yourself. Also, from my point of view, the daily work is characterized by a high degree of personal responsibility and flexibility for an intern. 
 
The tasks are extremely diverse and varied, and you work on them independently, although you always have a contact person you can turn to if you have any problems or questions. All in all, I can look back on a very enjoyable and instructive first internship in a great company. Especially because I had such a good experience, I decided to do another internship in management and IT consulting, which I did in the first half of 2021.