1. Could you briefly describe Lufthansa Group's corporate culture?
The Lufthansa Group is the world’s largest aviation group with worldwide operations and more than 550 subsidiaries and affiliated companies with a total of more than 130’000 employees. The portfolio of companies comprises major national network airlines (such as Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines), point-to-point airlines (Eurowings), as well as aviation service companies (e.g. Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Systems, LSG Group, etc.). As a consequence, Lufthansa Group combines a highly diverse and broad portfolio of corporate cultures, all with the aim of strengthening the entire Lufthansa Group in order to shape the future of the airline industry. The passion and fascination for aviation is a strong cultural aspect that all our employees share.
2. What makes a great employee at Lufthansa Group?
Lufthansa Group employees are willing to strive and go the extra mile for the success of the entire Lufthansa Group. While most employees work for a specific business unit, seeing the “big picture” and understanding how to drive synergies as well as create value for our customers and the entire group is key.
Great employees combine a high level of intrinsic motivation with a high degree of fascination and emotions working within a very dynamic and fast moving industry. Continuous willingness to learn and further developing skills, strong social competences, performance orientation and critical thinking are key. We are looking for talents who can open up new perspectives for innovation.
3. What do you see as the key benefit of the partnership with CEMS?
Lufthansa Group has a global footprint and is looking for motivated, diverse talents to face the industry’s challenges. Therefore, Lufthansa Group has a high demand for motivated and qualified employees. Lufthansa Group offers international Management Trainee Programs (StartTraineeships, i.e Start ProTeam) that matches the CEMS profile very well. Beyond that, CEMS offers interesting platforms for an early interaction with students within the academic environment. We are happy to take this opportunity to get to know students personally and at the same time provide them a direct insight into the fascinating aviation industry. Therefore, we see our engagement as a clear win-win.
4. What types of activities do you see Lufthansa getting involved in with CEMS in 2018-2019?
We plan to actively take part within the CEMS Career Forum in order to show our broad range of opportunities. At this point we also plan to offer recruitment slots for the next Start Traineeships (ie. Start ProTeam) intake for 2020.
Beyond that, we will offer skill seminars and guest lectures initially at the CEMS DACH universities. Of course, we will also provide some interesting strategic business projects from our Hub Airlines such as Austrian Airways, SWISS International Airlines or Lufthansa. Our aim is further to include the CEMS CV search tool actively in our hiring processes. And of course, we will activate the CEMS alumni which are already working for Lufthansa Group and provide further opportunities for interaction with CEMS students, e.g. also on social media.
5. Are you looking for experienced hires?
We have a strong focus on recruiting talents from universities and developping them through our trainee programs and internal development programs. We also believe that the on-the-job development is a great and important source of learning and personal growth. While there are certain positions which we fill with external experienced hires, we try to leverage our internal talent sources to create career opportunities by offering more responsibility.
6. What is the recruitment process at Lufthansa? What does a typical career path look like at Lufthansa?
We are looking for outstanding employees regardless their age, background and gender as diversity and equality is very important to us.
Typically, after evaluating the CVs, the candidates are invited to a face-to-face interview where we want to get to know the candidates thoroughly. In some cases, this can include practical Business Cases as well. Of course, this shall also be an opportunity for the candidates to better get to know the Lufthansa Group. We do not only screen the skills and intrinsic motivation but we are also looking for a good match with our corporate culture and our shared spirit. There is no typical career path as such, as our employees can take very individual journeys. While some aim for a leadership role, others strive to become an expert in a specific field. As we have global operation, some employees also take the chance to grow their personal and practical experience abroad.
7. What makes working at Lufthansa Group a unique experience/a great place to start?
Lufthansa Group is the largest aviation group with a diverse portfolio of companies. The highly dynamic market environment and external trends such as digitalization and individualization requires Lufthansa Group to continuously adapt products, re-invent customer interaction, implement new processes and services while also continuously challenging the way of internal structures to foster collaboration and innovation. It is the Lufthansa Group’s ambition and strategy to be number one for employees, shareholders and customers. Therefore Lufthansa Group companies offer a broad range of challenging opportunities for talents who strive to have an impact.
8. Finally, do you have any advice to the CEMS Class of 2019, in starting their career?
Always be curious, develop an open growth mindset and try to gain not only academical but also practical working experience, e.g. through internships. By doing so, try to understand your motivational drivers and what type of working environment and culture you need so you can fully exploit your potential. Finally, make sure your career decisions are not only based on your mind but also on your heart.