Jessica's path to becoming the head of an HR department

Jessica Fastenau successfully completed her Bachelor's degree in Economics at Paderborn University and her Master's degree in Business Administration in 2013. Today, she heads up the HR department at avitea Industrieservice GmbH. Her career path shows how important practical experience, perseverance and the ability to seize opportunities are for a successful career.

From bank training to university studies

Jessica's journey began with an apprenticeship as a bank clerk at Volksbank in Lippstadt. "During my training, I realised that I didn't want to do this for the rest of my life. Studying business administration seemed like a good way to broaden my horizons and find out which direction I wanted to go in," says Jessica. She decided in favour of Paderborn University for practical reasons: the proximity to her home town of Lippstadt, the low costs and the possibility of commuting.

She discovered her passion for human resources during her studies. The practical modules with Prof. Dr. Martin Schneider, labour law with Prof. Dr. Stephan Barton and work and organisational psychology with Prof. Dr. Niclas Schaper particularly enriched her studies. "I didn't enjoy purely theoretical content as much, but I was enthusiastic about practical subject areas." However, her time at university was not without its challenges: "Maths was an absolute horror for me, even though I was very good at statistics."

Jessica gained her first practical experience as a student assistant at the Chair of Statistics and in external accounting. She then completed an internship in the HR department at ThyssenKrupp, which was followed by a working student position. "After the internship, I realised that HR would become my focus." While her bachelor's thesis still dealt with external accounting, she dedicated her master's thesis under Prof Dr Martin Schneider to HR management - a field she is still passionate about today.

University life between train journeys and campus festivals

Jessica's time at Paderborn University was not only formative academically, but also personally. She particularly appreciated the familiar feeling on the green campus: "Everything was within walking distance, the distances were short and in summer you could really relax on the lawn."

Jessica fondly remembers meeting up with friends in the cafeteria, free hours on campus and partying together at the Paderborn Capitol. The AStA festival is also one of her fondest memories: "We had a preparty in Lippstadt and then travelled over by train - a real highlight." As a commuter, she made close friends with other students who also travelled between home and university.

Challenges in the job search and success in professional life

Starting a career was difficult at first. "I thought that with a good education, lots of practical experience and a good degree, employers would be keen to hire me - but that wasn't the case at the time." Almost 200 applications and a trip to the job centre later, an opportunity arose in Düsseldorf, where Jessica gained valuable experience in project management at E.ON in a temporary project through Campus Consult.

Six months later, her path led her to avitea, where she has worked her way up from HR officer to Head of HR at avitea Industrieservice GmbH over the last ten years. "I was there from the very beginning when the subsidiary avitea Industrieservice was founded in 2016 and has since grown to over 700 employees. This experience has given me an incredible amount of knowledge and experience."

avitea Industrieservice is a multi-service provider that specialises in contracts for work and services. "We take on activities that are not part of our customers' core business - from reception and plant security activities to cleaning and logistics services and production support activities," explains Jessica. Together with her team, she looks after employees throughout their entire life cycle: from recruitment and payroll to labour law issues and communication with the works council. She also deals with strategic issues such as the introduction of new working time models and managing crises such as short-time working during the coronavirus pandemic.

Advice for students

Looking back, Jessica would have liked to have made more of her time at university: "I missed out on traditional student life because I was commuting. Today, I would definitely like to gain experience abroad, live in Paderborn and experience more of campus life."

Her most important piece of advice to students: "Practical experience is essential. Whether internships or working student activities - they prepare you for the professional world and help you discover your own interests."

Jessica's tips for a good application

• An authentic, professional and friendly photo - after all, first impressions count
• Find out about the company individually; for me personally and for us as a company, a cover letter is not (or no longer) important, but every company is different
• The CV forms the centrepiece of every application and is therefore the most important thing for every HR manager; however, the content (professional experience, further training, etc.) is still much more important than the design.
• Avoid using ready-made application templates from the internet - every HR manager knows these by now
• If the company asks for a salary expectation and earliest possible starting date, state these too à Find out about realistic (starting) salaries in the profession and industry in which you are applying
• Refrain from calling the company after a short time or several times to enquire about the current status of the application; personally, such calls only annoy me.
• Attach (only) all relevant (work) references and certificates; otherwise the company will ask for them; however, you can confidently do without the primary school certificate ;)

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