Not sure where or what to write your thesis on? Is finding a suitable company proving difficult? One option would be to apply to Reiser Simulation & Training.
But what awaits you there?
My name is Jonas, I am 26 years old and I have worked at Reiser since 2013. From April to August 2020 I wrote my master’s thesis here alongside my job as a project manager. I would now like to give you a brief insight into the process, the advantages and also the challenges as I experienced them here in relation to my thesis.
Honest, personal and uncensored.
It all started when I approached our operations manager and told him that my master’s thesis was coming up. He then wanted to take some time to work out possible topics. About two weeks later he gave me a list of four topics I could choose from. Did I find all of them interesting? No. But the good thing was that I could pick one myself. There was one I could identify with well. So I chose “Developing a concept for implementing innovation management at a medium-sized company”. So far, so good. The topic was fixed. I then went looking for a professor with that topic. Since innovation management is on everybody’s lips, that was not too hard. Voilà. So I had a topic, a supervising professor at the university and a supervisor within the company.
The operations manager himself took on the technical supervision of the thesis within the company. In our first coordination meeting we tried together to narrow down the topic and develop a common thread. On content I was supported by the head of electronics development, who also wanted to take on the topic of innovation management. All in all: plenty of contacts, but still not much of a plan. I thought about a possible structure for my thesis and started gathering initial content from the literature. Through the writing itself the structure kept changing and adapting. Whenever I was reasonably happy with a chapter or section, I went to our operations manager and asked him to look it over. The result? Everything from devastating through critical to “cut without replacement”. Now and then there was some cautious praise, although the criticism took me much further than the kind words. On balance, the theory section slowly took shape.
The first problem, though, was that the company focused on the practical part while I was still stuck in the theory. So I started working on two fronts at once. At home in the evening I familiarized myself with the theory, while in the office I was already developing practice-oriented content with the head of electronics development. We discussed content and sketched out processes with great enthusiasm. The results were not always immediately useful, but contrary to my initial expectations it was definitely fun. One fact you have to come to terms with, though, is that managers are usually very busy during the day. Coordination meetings, meetings and working groups were therefore mostly scheduled from
5 pm, or on Fridays sometimes from 3 pm. On the plus side, nobody was in a hurry afterwards.
Once I was finally making good progress on content, the formatting gave me some trouble. But here too there were more people on hand to help than I needed. Technical documentation gave me tips and support on how to get my thesis into the right format. And even during the day. So that hurdle was cleared as well, without any major problems.
I sent my interim versions to my professor and our operations manager for review fairly regularly: every two weeks to the operations manager and once a month to my supervising professor. The professor focused more on the structure and formal aspects of the thesis, while the company’s operations manager was more interested in the content itself. A good balance.
It usually took about a week for me to get a commented version of my work back. When it mattered because I was stuck, I could say so and speed up the review cycle considerably. So I had no timing problems at all. The problem was more that I had to push myself to produce new content. But I think that is true for most people.
Towards the end of my thesis I had already started involving the management board, because I needed their input and also their approval for certain content. Getting an audience with all three members of the management board is not easy, but it is possible. Once I had them all around one table, the discussion was interested, constructive and also critical. And it went on for quite a while. In the end, though, I was able to convince them of the concept I had developed and got all the information I needed.
Nothing stood in the way of finalizing it. The final proofreading took about another two weeks. After that it was done. My master’s thesis was submitted.
My personal success afterwards was that the concept was approved almost in full and is now being implemented in the company. So my work, my effort and my time were not wasted. Some of you may not care about that, but it mattered a lot to me.
In summary I can say that it was very interesting and stimulating in terms of content, because I was able to start from a blank sheet. The supervision was very good both professionally and in terms of content. You have to be clear, though, that a lot of independence is required and that you only get help when you really need it. Only those who are prepared to give a lot here will achieve a lot.
If I had to write a thesis again, I could well imagine writing it here.
Interested but would like to know more? Then write to me at:
If you would like to apply directly or clarify questions about the terms, feel free to contact our HR officer Clarissa Detlefsen:
Clarissa.Detlefsen@reiser-st.com
Maybe we will see each other at the coffee machine soon.
