This is what a one-company career gives you

I’ve worked at Boehringer Ingelheim since I joined as a Management Trainee in 2002. It’s rare to stay in one company your whole working life – so what’s kept me here for so long? Here’s my one-company career.?

I grew up in the Ingelheim area, and I was always interested in travel and different cultures. I applied for a Boehringer Ingelheim Scholarship – it had a focus on international marketing that I wanted, and I also liked the scientific and medical side – I’d been a paramedic for 10 months as part of our German military service back in the day.??

Boehringer Ingelheim?selected?one person every three years for the scholarship. They paid for my graduate and postgraduate studies and gave me internships along the way – I spent a semester in the US and one in Australia. I experienced different departments, from marketing, to finance, and purchasing – it was a?really well-rounded?programme.??

But I was a business major – nothing in my studies prepared me for the scientific part of the role!?So?when I started in the sales force, Boehringer Ingelheim trained me in all the pharmacology, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics required before I could visit doctors and talk to them about medications. The learning never stops – you?must?stay curious, because there are always new products, new studies, new fields and new diseases.?

After sales, I was constantly being given bigger roles in marketing, then international marketing. I lived in Latvia for two years managing the Baltic countries, then came back to Ingelheim to do regional management, and then took over as Managing Director of Human Pharma in Germany in 2019.?

Was it a stretch? Yes of course! I was like, ‘Oh wow - I got the job, it’s happening!’ From managing 60-100 people, I was now managing 1,000. But I figured that they must think I’m ready. I believed in them to have made the right decision, so I believed in myself.??

And it’s not like I?have to?do everything myself – I have a great team, with great experience. I don’t know the answer to every question – there’s such a broad range of topics, from clinical research, to marketing, supply and pricing. But what I?can?do is establish a culture of listening, understanding and empowering.??

Because I’ve been fortunate enough to switch jobs so often, I’ve learned from some great leaders here, like our CEO?Hubertus von Baumbach. During the height of the pandemic, he managed to set a tone and a culture that was so true to Boehringer Ingelheim. It really inspired us all.?

Pharma?is?a truly special career. After almost 19 years here, I’m still driven to learn more and progress. You have responsibility for the health of people, and that gives me a sense of purpose and pride that’s difficult to find in other industries.?

We’re hiring.?Take a look?at our?jobs page?and see where a career at Boehringer Ingelheim could take you.?

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