What our employees say
It doesn’t get any more personal than this – get to know the people who make up our company and receive first-hand information about opportunities and the everyday life at Dolezych . This is the Dolezych staff speaking.
The Dolezych world as seen by Baris Celiker
Hello, Mr. Celiker. You’ll be graduating soon. How did you come to Dolezych and what will happen for you after graduation?
Hello, Mrs. Kater. I have been working as a student trainee at Dolezych since December 2016. On the website of the University of Applied Sciences Dortmund a job ad aroused my interest, according to which Dolezych was offering a working student job in IT. To learn more about it, I applied for the job. I am currently writing my master’s thesis, for which I have done process modeling, among other things. In addition, I am responsible as IT subproject manager in the project around the introduction of a new software. Currently, I dedicate a large part of my time to this project and support my colleagues in the IT department. After my master’s degree, which I’ll probably have in September, I’ll be working here full-time and will then be responsible for strategic matters in IT.
What did you do before you started working for Dolezych?
My last working student job was in the IT department of an international company in Gütersloh. I also wrote my bachelor thesis there as part of my computer science degree at the FH Dortmund.
What convinced you to work at Dolezych?
The motivation for applying was initially pragmatic; when I saw the job ad, I thought, “Those are skill requirements I can meet.” There was also another practical reason, namely a short commute to work. When I came here for my job interview, I was particularly impressed by the good and informal working atmosphere. My experience here is that clear demands are made on you, but there is a lot of freedom to solve the tasks independently. I am trusted to perform my duties responsibly and carefully.
What does a normal working day look like for you?
At the moment it’s difficult to say, because I’m in a kind of transitional phase. One one hand, I support my colleagues in the IT department. This looks like that I get involved in existing projects and partly continue them. On the other hand, I am involved in the ongoing project concerning the introduction of new software, for which I am responsible on the IT side.
Why do you like working at Dolezych?
Besides the family atmosphere here, I really like that individuals are treated with appreciation. I have found both the management and all my colleagues to be very helpful so far. When dealing with each other, you don’t notice the difference between the individual hierarchy levels so much. Even those higher up in the corporate structure I have found to be very open so far. Whenever I need advice from one of my supervisors, I always get good advice.
What advice can you give to applicants who are also interested in a job at Dolezych?
Just be yourself. You don’t have to pretend here. Above all, be clear: Where do I want to be in 10 or 15 years? Simply have a clear vision and then be able to communicate it. That’s the only way to have a chance of making it happen.
The Dolezych world as seen by Sven Wasik
Hi Sven, you’ve been with Dolezych for three years now. What’s your path been like here so far?
Yes exactly, I have been here now since the beginning of 2015. The first year I was still a student. My work at Dolezych at that time can perhaps be summarized quite well with the topic “Improvement of the cooperation between the foreign branches in China and the USA and the head office in Germany”. I got to know the company through a professor at my university and then applied on my own initiative for a project in China. I lived there for six months before I went to the USA where I wrote my master thesis. Since March 2016, I have been permanently employed as an International Supply Chain Manager.
What did you do before you joined Dolezych?
Primarily studied. I completed my Bachelor’s degree at CBS Cologne in International Business Administration and my Master’s degree in Bremerhaven in Logistics Engineering and Management. In addition, I was a working student in a few other companies during this time.
What convinced you to work at Dolezych?
At the very beginning, first of all, the opportunity to live and work in China for six months. And of course to be able to write the master thesis in the USA. In general, I received a lot of individual support from the company and was given a position with a lot of responsibility following my time as a student. It has a lot to do with trust that I have stayed here: On the one hand, the trust placed in me as a person and, on the other, my trust in the Dolezych company.
What does a normal working day look like for you?
For me, there is no real day-to-day business at all. My day-to-day life is very project-based. I start my day by checking deadlines, structuring my work day, and dividing up my week by tasks on Mondays. So no two workdays are ever the same. There are few recurring tasks. Basically, however, my tasks can be roughly divided into two areas: On the one hand, this includes responding to the requirements of the foreign branches and embedding them in long-term projects. This means finding solutions to unanticipated problems that are in line with the company’s plans. The other task area has a more predictable character. This is usually work arising from the planning, monitoring and management of projects.
Why do you like working at Dolezych?
What makes the job here so interesting for me is the diversity of the tasks. I have a very broad range of responsibilities, so I’m much closer to the big picture than I would be in a large corporation. The flat hierarchies at Dolezych enable me to play a pioneering role in shaping the company. For me, this is a decisive advantage of working in a medium-sized company. I have the feeling that I am very much supported here in my personal development. For example, I have been able to gain a strong knowledge of process through my many previous projects. I also like the international aspect of my work. Through living in the USA and China I have had close contact with these cultures and through my work I get to know the different cultures of our foreign branches.
What advice can you give others who are thinking about applying to Dolezych?
In any case, bring a lot of initiative, be energetic and willing to learn. One should have the courage to look to the right and to the left and to think “out of the box”. Willingness to develop, willingness to compromise and ability to work in a team are the real drivers of our company.
The Dolezych world as seen by Walter Eckstein
Hello Mr. Eckstein, after graduating from secondary school you started a commercial apprenticeship at Dolezych. How did things go for you here after that?
Hello. Yeah, that’s right. In August 1995 I started my apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant here. After a short break – at that time there was still the obligation to do civilian or military service – I rejoined the company in ’99. Afterwards, I completed my vocational baccalaureate and went to night school to earn a degree in business administration. I received a lot of support from my employer. It was a bit more unusual back then. Today, almost everyone who has finished their education starts a course of study.
In the meantime, I have become deputy head of department for the load securing area and am mainly responsible for the product group of load securing nets. My job is basically that of a product manager. In addition to office and field work, this therefore also includes collaboration in design and development. There are also many interfaces with other departments in the company, such as marketing, so I am often involved in these areas as well. Within the framework of the seminars on load securing offered by Dolezych, I am also active as a speaker and trainer. As you can see, I’m on board with many topics – a colourful bouquet of tasks.
What did you do before you joined Dolezych?
Since I started here very young, there wasn’t that much before that. I went to junior high school and had a few classic student jobs. My vision is clearly determined by Dolezych glasses and thus orange-tinted. I’m a real “Dolezych” kid.
What convinced you to work at Dolezych?
Initially, I had actually enrolled in a business high school after graduation, as some of my friends did at the time. But then I came up with the name Dolezych through a conversation with my father. He said that there was a company in the port of Dortmund where I could apply for an apprenticeship. I had never heard of Dolezych, let alone been able to pronounce the name. In the interview I had to admit quite honestly that I had no idea about the company. At that time there was no Google like today, where you can easily get such information. When I actually got the job, I said yes right away. At that time, it was important to me to do something commercial and to earn money first, with the perspective of continuing my education later.
What does a normal working day look like for you?
It’s difficult to say because the tasks are very varied – not a normal nine-to-five job. On the one hand, my work consists of classic commercial activities such as preparing quotations.
On the other hand, it also includes key account management. This often starts with the problem and requirements analysis at the company, continues with finding problem-related solution ideas in cooperation with the technical product development and also includes that I go to the production and have a look at what exactly the processes look like on site.
Then there are times when my work includes field work and on other days I am involved in the load securing seminars all day long.
So it’s always very varied. That’s the beauty of my work: it’s just never the same. Dolezych’s wide range of customer challenges and its large “belly-load of different products” result in a multitude of possibilities.
You have already touched on the subject a little: Why do you like working at Dolezych?
The days here are simply varied. Another important reason for my decision is the family-like working atmosphere. There is a family of entrepreneurs whose name is on the company nameplate and who stand up for the values that are lived here. This is often different for large corporations. Mostly it’s just bare numbers that count. I have many colleagues here who have been with Dolezych for a long time. So you share with many a long way of Dolezych life. Of course, sometimes one doesn’t like the nose of the other or one has different opinions, but on the whole one can always build on the familiar togetherness here. Moreover, we are literally pulling in the same direction on this issue.
What advice can you give to applicants who are also interested in a position at Dolezych?
To those I would most definitely recommend applying. I appreciate the family management of the company and that there is a long term strategic plan. It’s about continuing to grow as a family business. At the moment you can feel a dynamic here and that a lot is moving. There is a lot of know-how in the company and a breath of fresh air will certainly come from some new colleagues. After all, it’s not just about selling the products anymore. Even in departments not directly related to sales, such as engineering or development, you can feel movement. If you have discovered an area for yourself and simply say “I’m going to do this now”, you can develop wonderfully here. And then you are also shown appreciation for it. You are not a number in the processing department, but can develop individually well.
The Dolezych world as seen by Antje Kater
Hello Antje, you have completed your Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the Technical University Dortmund (TU). How did you hear about Dolezych ?
At the TU I came in contact with Dolezych for the first time. I attended a marketing seminar in 2017 which took place in cooperation with Dolezych. I didn’t know the company at the time, even though it was right in front of my own doorstep which was located in the port of Dortmund. In the seminar, we were able to ask questions from a consultant’s perspective on business issues, so I got a first impression of Dolezych and made the decision, to apply for an internship there.
What exactly happened next?
I sent an application to the head of marketing, Mr. Krosta, and got an internship in marketing for three months. During this time I was able to gain further impressions of the company and I’ve been working a lot with the website and the online shop. After a subsequent semester abroad in Portugal, I then started working as a student trainee in February 2018 in marketing at Dolezych.
What convinced you to return to Dolezych after a semester abroad?
After an internship in a large B2C company and a student job in a medium-sized service company, it appealed to me to take over the marketing at Solezych to experience marketing at a B2B medium-sized companies. Besides, I had the opportunity at Dolezych to write my master thesis about the international communication of the company. Ultimately, however, I was probably convinced by the pleasant atmosphere and the great leeway that is given here to develop one’s own ideas. Because a lot is happening here at the moment – for example, a new ERP system is implemented, which is a huge project -, I saw this as an opportunity to experience this dynamic and exciting time.
As of November 2018, you are now hired as a Marketing Manager. What does a normal workday look like for you?
Actually, there is no “normal” workday. The tasks differ depending on which topics are currently important and range from press relations and website work to presentations and social media. And every once in a while, there’s a video shoot scheduled and must be carried out. Surely the procedure repeats itself over time. For example, similar tasks are pending, regardless of whether the customer magazine for spring or fall 2019 will be created. Because the topics, products, customer requirements and the company change, the tasks remain very diverse and interesting. Besides, I’ve only just started so I can’t really call it a routine yet.
Why do you like working at Dolezych?
Every day here is somehow exciting, because always new topics come up again, which you can help to shape. I also like the pleasant atmosphere, which makes it very easy for me as a career starter to find my way around and feel comfortable.
What advice can you give to others who are thinking about about applying to Dolezych?
As a rule, private individuals do not have much experience with load securing and slings. This could be a factor that intimidates applicants at first. But I think you should not be shy about the largely unknown products and applications. You can expand your knowledge day by day when you work here. Therefore my advice would be to just go for it.
Did these interviews make you curious?
Then take a look at our job portal to see if there is something suitable for you. If not, we would also be pleased to receive a speculative application. Learn also the possibilities at Dolezych an.