Many companies offer high potential programs. Why did you decide on Celanese’ champ program?
In comparison to many other trainee programs, the two-year champ program at Celanese offers a high degree of flexibility. This applies to the length of time you can stay in different positions, the fact that you can choose what function you would like to work in, and that you are assigned to different businesses. The champ program is especially interesting for someone who studied business administration, for example, because you have the opportunity to work in areas other than administration.

Could you please tell us how the program was structured and what assignments you were given?
I started the program in Celanese’ Global Audit department. This global function not only handles global auditing, but also acts as a kind of internal consultant on a number of specific topics. In the seven months I spent in Audit, I learned a great deal about auditing, the different businesses in Celanese AG and also about Ticona’s sales offices abroad.

The next assigment was as project coordinator in the central Finance and Accounting organization. This six-month project focused on merging the day-to-day processes of three different financial organizations, which gave me a lot of insight into process details.

My third assignment was spent in a production site in our Ticona technical polymers business, where I learned about production and process optimization projects (Six Sigma). As a non-specialist in polymerization, I consider this experience very valuable.

My final project was in Reporting & Analysis for Celanese Chemicals in Dallas. I worked on improving the accuracy of existing working capital forecasting. It was a challenge to restructure the actual processes and established methods used in forecasting.

You have now completed your two-year champ program. What did you get out of the program?
I am glad that I participated in the program, because it gave me a variety of perspectives into many different topics. Of course, you can argue that spending only 6-7 months on a project doesn’t really reflect the day-to-day business. But, I feel that the numerous processes, which I became acquainted with over the course of time, did in fact give me a better understanding of interfaces and cross-functional processes. By holding a number of different assignments, I encountered many different styles of working and problem-solving techniques.

Did you experience any special highlights?
As I already mentioned, I was most fascinated by the time I spent in polyacetal production at Ticona. This was a totally new experience in every regard for me.

I also found working abroad, dealing with different cultural perspectives in the day-to-day work, very interesting.