Do you want to move up in your career?
Do you really want to make fast steps? Work in an environment with a very high level of responsibility?

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Here is a great story of one of my colleagues:
She joined RB almost five years ago as a Sales Representative. After one year she became a Junior Brand Manager. 18 months later she got the promotion to Brand Manager.
After another step as Senior Brand Manager she moved to Australia to work and live in one of the most exciting cities in the world: Sydney.
She is still with RB and is moving on quickly.

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So, if you answered all the questions at the start of this post with a “yes” then you should definitely send your application to RB today!

Of course no one here makes these hugh steps like my colleague without any effort. You have to fit in with the RB culture. You have to work hard to reach your goals.
I have written previously about the culture at RB. As you might imagine, there are a lot of great things about it – BUT you have to fit in it.

Find out if Reckitt Benckiser offers the perfect culture for you by visiting the RB careers site: Are we right for you?

What is it that makes us happy in a certain job? Is it about fun? Is it about the people we are working with? Is it about challenges? What is it?
In my opinion it is a mix. Within every company there exists a certain culture which plays a certain role.
So, let’s take a look at the facts:

Fun:
What is the definition of fun? I think this big guy here is really funny (it’s not what you would expect!)

And yes, working should be fun. You should enjoy what you are doing all day long. If you just go to work thinking “Oh my god, hopefully the day will be over soon…” you will not be happy in life.

And of course you need the right colleagues. I am happy that I never was in the situation in which I did not like the person sitting next to me all day but I guess it has to be horrorful.
But no, it is not just about getting along with each other. You need people around you which challenge you. Give you new ideas. Let you take the look at situations from a different angle. And teach you. I am very happy to be in a team at RB in which my colleagues have completely different characters. This give me the chance to learn as much as possible from every one of them because they all act in a completely different way during meetings, presentation or negotiations.

Challenges:
In one of my older blog entries, I wrote about challenges and going beyond your limits. In my eyes it is very important to challenge yourself everyday. But of course every one has to find their own speed. If I am hungry and the apple hangs too high in the tree so I am not able to reach it, I will starve. It should be a competition to reach the apple but you should be able to get up there.

Everyone is looking for the ideal company. The company which connects all these fact within its culture.
How is the culture of RB? Could it be the perfect culture for you? If you read across the blog entries on this site you will get a good  impression about people working at RB.
In my eyes RB is very challenging. No doubt about that. We want to be the best – in everything we are doing. Sometimes it can be hard but on the other hand it is always fair. If you deliver and reach your goals, you will get the chance to go your way and get the respect you deserve.

This week our CEO Bart Becht was in Germany for two days. He came to one of my colleagues from the Key Account Team and congratulated him because of a very important step he made with his customer.
So yes, at RB it will be recognised if you are good in what you are doing.

And if you’re now thinking “ok, he did not mention if there is a lot of fun at RB”, well YES, THERE IS…

After nine months as a Sales Representative at RB I got my first promotion.
From March 1st onwards, I am a Key Account Manager. In addition I help out on other accounts with a lot of data analysis.
In my eyes this is the best way to learn as much as possible from colleagues with more experience on their accounts and use the learned skills within my very own account.

A friend called me last week. He works for another global player within the German FMCG market as a Junior Key Account Manager.
After 1½ years as a Sales Representative, he became a Customer Strategy Manager before getting the promotion as a Junior Key Account Manager.
He was wondering how I got the promotion as Key Account Manager so fast.
Of course I could have said: “The reason for my promotion was my performance which was sooooo gorgeous…” But the real secret behind this fast career step lies within the culture of RB.

If you are passionate about what you are doing and if you really want a fast career development, RB will give you the opportunities to grow and will show you ways to be responsible for what you are doing from the very first day.

In my second week on my new position we had a workshop with a European director from our global headquarters in Slough. We planned to discuss the long term strategy for one of our biggest accounts.
For this workshop a huge excel dashboard had to be filled up with a lot of numbers. In my second week I had no clue about the data which had to be filled in there but it was in my responsibility to get the job done within three days.
I talked to colleagues, asked my boss and even called the European director a couple of times to get this sheet done. At the end of the day we had a great workshop with a lot of new ideas. The dashboard was ready in time and I had my first mission completed.

This post should show you two very important things about RB:

1. At RB you have the opportunity to make fast career steps. You have to be passionate and you have to have the drive to deliver every single day.

2. At RB you are given the opportunity to get a lot of visibility from the first moment on. As I mentioned above, from the first day I had contact to a European director.

You will not find these two things in a lot of companies of RB’s size around the world.

Have you ever had a rival? Someone you really wanted to beat? From the bottom of your heart?
I am sure if you look back in your life there is at least one person you will remember.
I played 15 years of basketball and let me tell you I had a lot of rivals!

Maybe Reggie Miller, one of the world’s best basketball players, brings it perfectly to the light:

Reggie played for the Indiana Pacers in the 1990s and he was the biggest rival of the New York Knicks.
In his comment in the video above he says that “in the moment it was so intensive and so pressure packed” but when he looks back on it, “it was the best time of his career” because he never knew what the next game would bring. But the two most interesting parts of the interview are where he says that the 20,000 people in the arena yelling against him always pushed him over his limits and the way he talks about the New York Knicks fans.
He is full of respect.

So, how about rivals in business?
For us the two biggest rivals in our German FMCG market are Henkel and Procter & Gamble. And what should I say is, of course, WE are ALWAYS in first place…;)
But seriously I would not be so passionate for this company if I was not sure about our position as the market leader. However, do I sometimes think “wow, this was a good idea from one of our rivals”?
Yes, every now and then I do. They do a great job as well. But in such situations it is up to us to be a little step faster. And this little step is the one which pushes you beyond your limits.

So how do I realize this rivalry at the point of sale?
Within my resellers I know how our position is at every shelf. I know how many second placements we have compared to others. And yes, every company tries to get the best spot in the shelf on eyelevel for the customer and as many facings as possible. Everyone fights for the biggest and best looking second placements. So, it is always a discussion with the reseller who has the better brands and who should stay wider and bigger.
It is always about the right argumentation and the right connection to the reseller who gets the best spots.

Ok, what did I try to tell you with this post?
In my eyes everyone needs rivals to get the best out of you. But within a rivalry it is most important to play hard but fair.
Be respectful.

And now for all of you fans of good old entertainment, this might have been the biggest rivalry in sports history!
Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior: Watch as Hulk hands the victory belt over to his rival and raises the hand of the Warrior. Enjoy.

After finishing university every graduate asks himself: how do I get the job I really want?
Well through this blog entry I will try to give you some insights into what my way to RB looked like. Maybe it could  become your way, too.

1st step: The application.

Find your own style but be aware of the local formalities.

Formalities: The first look is always at the form. Take a look at letters you got from serious companies. You will realize that the format is serious as well. Take this as an example. Colleagues from the HR department get hundreds of applications. So be aware that there are no bigger mistakes within your formalities. A good website for any German readers is this one which gives very good insights into the formalities of applications in Germany.

Your own style: Be unique. Take care of the formalities but within those  find your own way. When I was younger sport was a big part of my life. In every application you will find something about this part of me. In addition I love other countries, other cultures.

So find a way to express yourself. E.g. I always mentioned that I am a son of the sailor and that this might the reason for my passion for different cultures. Take a look at your life – what makes your heart beat faster?

2nd step: The telephone interview.

Be prepared but be yourself – do not prepare whole sentences or words for the talk.

The preparation: Take a look at the company website. I found a lot of information about RB by looking on theirs and thought about how I could fit in to this culture.
Search for press releases. Visit YouTube and watch some of the company adverts:

After that I made a list of things which might be important. Strengths, weaknesses, goals in 5 years, goals in 10 years, why do I want to join RB, why should RB pick me, questions?

The call: Wiebke, the Senior Human Resources Advisor of our business in Germany called me that day. From the beginning I had a very good feeling.
I was in the city that day where Wiebke grew up. A good start. Something like this is good to stay in mind. Maybe Wiebke had 10 calls that day, but I am sure she remembered that I was the one who was in her home town when we talked.
Ask the interviewer personal things. If the topic is sports or hobbies, why shouldn’t you ask the interviewer about their passions? Maybe there is a connection. The Boston Consulting Group offers some good interview tips as well.

3rd and 4th Step: Personal interviews.

At RB I had two personal talks. The first one was with Wiebke and Benno, our Head of Field Sales and Head of Trade Marketing. The second was with two marketing managers. That first day we had two topics: a case study with an analysis and the personal talk. The second day included “only” a personal interview.

The case study: Again preparation comes first. It was my first case study ever. So I searched the web and found this very good site by McKinsey where you are able to practice cases.
Take your time and go through the steps. It helped me a lot to understand what a case study is all about. In my case the study had a lot of numbers about market shares, turnover, net revenue and so on. My first thought after my first look? – Ok, I will leave NOW!
In this situation, stay cool. I read it again, made notes. The topic can be about everything. E.g. the company want to join a new market or want to launch a new product. How are the action steps?
So, I made my analysis. I focused on the things I understood and I put my action plan up on the flip chart: but I was too late. Five minutes before I finished Wiebke and Benno entered the room. My thought was it is over now.
But again: stay cool. No one will cut your head off!
I finished my paintings and presented my ideas. I am sure not everything was correct but I had my plan and answers to the questions. If I did not understand everything – no problem. Benno explained it to me. Everything was very fair.

The personal talk: The tips and tricks are almost the same here as I wrote above within the part about the telephone interview. Most important thing again: be yourself! Benno told me afterwards that after the talk he had the feeling that he really knew who I was.

When I look back at the whole application process I recommend one most important thing: be yourself and always start the talk with a big…

…smile.