How speaking German helped me excel in my accounting career | Insights from a DB Schenker GBS Bucharest employee

If you're looking to jumpstart your career in the accounting industry, Andreea's story is sure to inspire and guide you towards success. So, let's dive right in!

What made you choose DB Schenker GBS as your employer and how your journey started?

[Andreea B.]: I chose DB Schenker GBS as my employer without even thinking that it will become one day my employer of choice. I was a fresh graduate searching for a job and practice my German language skills because as a former German language Olympic student, I was, and I still am truly passionate about this language, culture, and people.

DB Schenker spotted me first. The recruitment team called me and proposed me to start my career in finance and learn this field while working with German teams. I said yes and here I am 3 years later, thriving while working for my employer of choice who kept his word in teaching me everything that I know.

Can you share 2 things that people usually don’t know about DB Schenker GBS?

[Andreea B.]: First, we are a hub operating within the DB Schenker structure, providing accounting and support operations activities for Europe countries.
Second, we are eager to find, and we value speakers of different foreign languages. Delivering services for more than 25 European countries means a wide range of language skills to interact with our colleagues.

DB Schenker GBS delivers services for more than 25 countries and some of our colleagues are speaking one or two different languages. As a German speaker, what are the benefits of working in a multilingual environment like this?

[Andreea B.]: One of the benefits is the language allowance, from my perspective this is a way that DB Schenker appreciates and values the fact that I have a particular language skill. Then comes my personal gain: while working in a multilingual environment I started to develop myself and to think in German and English, I embraced another culture that will stay with me forever. That also means DB Schenker embraces cultural differences, which is wonderful because multilingualism creates a well-rounded team that can better meet overall business goals.

Can you share any examples of projects or tasks that you have worked on that required the use of German language?

[Andreea B.]: I particularly enjoy Call Auditing. I perform this task with my German speakers’ colleagues to help them improve their performance. To do that I participate every month in a conversation they have with our customers and write down what went well and what needs to be improved from the process perspective, giving them direct feedback, and always supporting them through their progress.

Once you master the accounting specific vocabulary in German and the procedures, all the doors to success are opened.

DB Schenker GBS ambition is to deliver process optimization, process excellence, and maximum efficiency to our stakeholders. Focusing on improvement, how much has your activity changed since you joined the company?

[Andreea B.]: My activity has changed a lot since I first joined the company. Back in 2019, I started my activity as an Accountant being part of the Germany Team where the procedures were going thru an improvement process and as a new joiner, I was very optimistic from the start. Because of my dedication and work, I was promoted to Senior Accountant and at this moment, 3 years later I am an Expert Accountant in the same team, being proud to reach together with them great results monthly and annually. The processes were optimized, and they still are thru different global application implementations and standardization, but also with our support, for example, we have created boots that help us with the daily tasks. We have great mentoring programs, workshops, refreshers, trainings, and initiatives.

Based on Global Employee Survey 2022- a survey that DB Schenker runs bi-annually to give a voice to its employees – the “My direct supervisor” category reached one of the highest scores from the survey. What can you share with us regarding your relationship with your direct manager?

[Andreea B.]: My relationship with my direct manager can be described using the 3 following concepts: communication, active listening, and emotional intelligence. My direct manager was promoted within the team. He is my mentor, being proactive, and is always there by my side whenever I need support. We communicate openly, we listen to each other points of view and we find the best solution together. And of course, let’s not forget the concept of emotional intelligence because it is a great one to find within a corporation.

DB Schenker GBS implemented a hybrid way of working to sustain flexibility and wellbeing. What are the benefits and the challenges of working in a hybrid way from your perspective?

[Andreea B.]: The hybrid way of working is great for me because I feel that I have flexibility. This gives me a sense of comfort. I can come to the office when I want or when me and my team decides that. When I work from home, I am in my comfort zone, I feel like I regenerate my power. I recharge my batteries from both points of view – mentally and physically. We also have colleagues who are not from Bucharest, and they have all the flexibility to work from their nice and warm homes.
Of course, working from home can also bring in time a sense of loneliness because we do not have social contact with our colleagues that often. DB Schenker and us as a team managed to find solutions for this kind of situations, for example we have wellbeing programs. Within the team, we have daily huddles in which we discuss the main operational topics of the day and then we play little games, like riddles, “guess the song” where we listen the lyrics of a song translated in Romanian on google to see who will guess what the actual song is, this is funny.
Within the team we have also established a team agreement to meet every month at the office and this goes simply amazing because we are always very happy to see each other.

What is the message you want to share with the people who are reading this article?

[Andreea B.]: Dear readers, it is truly possible to have a job that you enjoy and that brings you satisfaction day by day. It is possible to wake up in the morning and open your laptop excited and smiling. All you must do is to believe in yourself and always work for the best version of yourself. Having a positive mindset combined with knowledge and perseverance will bring value to your employer as much as to yourself. And remember life is not too short to learn German, life is too short to miss the opportunity to learn Accounting in German!

Thank you.

Are you a foreign language speaker and looking for an exciting career opportunity? At DB Schenker GBS We are constantly seeking new colleagues to join our teams. Discover our open positions and let your passion and talent drive. We can't wait to hear from you!