Meet our New Hires

In the following interview, I was virtually talking to eight colleagues, who joined MP in Autumn 2020 – right in the peak time of Covid19.

They will tell me and of course you about their first experiences at MP and how they started – partially without even physically meeting the rest of the team due to Covid19-restrictions. And they will give you an insight into working in M&A from home. Spoiler: It all went very well 🙂

Let me first briefly introduce myself: My name is Nikoline (although everybody calls me Niki) Tesar and I am leading the Back Office Team at MP. One of my responsibilities is HR and recruitment. Therefore, I am most of the time the first person to meet and get to know new colleagues. Today I am very proud to introduce our new team members to you! Let’s jump right into it!

Niki: Thank you for taking the time. Great to have you on board! You have now experienced your first few weeks at MP and have settled in a bit. It’s great that we succeeded to gain such a large group of highly motivated team members in these very special times to further follow our path and vision.

That leads me straight to my first question: You’ve partly had your onboarding sessions physically in the office, partly already with your foot in your home office. How did you feel about that?

Isabella: For me, it didn’t make any big difference because I was already at MP in 2017 and therefore knew the processes quite well.

Moses: I was very happy to have met my colleagues in person first. This helped a lot to connect better on a professional and personal level when we were working together remotely. Switching to home office also has its advantages. You save a lot of time because there are no commutes, as an example. However, working from home would not work as smoothly without the great support I received from my managers and the team as a whole. Nonetheless, I am already looking forward to being back to the office and see my fellow teammates again.

Georg: The change to home office worked smooth and the setup at MP was also well prepared for remote working. Therefore, it doesn’t make a big difference where you work from, however, I prefer working at the office as the social aspect comes a bit short in the home office situation. Purely in terms of M&A work, you can work from anywhere.

Christoph: As Isabella, I was already working at MP a year ago, that’s certainly an advantage! I have to say, I miss the office a lot because it’s nice when you can talk to your colleagues in person.

Niki: Christoph, you have experienced your internship at MP pre-Covid19 and now you started as an analyst right in the peak time of Covid19, how has your day to day project work changed?

Christoph: When there is a lot to do, I now can start to work at 7 a.m. because I save the routine in the morning. I get a lot of support from my manager, although sometimes I miss being able to quickly address a simple question to a seating neighbour or in informal chats with my managers. Pre-Covid19, still in office, things were clarified straight away before they even became a question.

Niki: How is cooperation with clients running remotely? What challenges do you feel confronted with and how do you deal with them?

Alexandru: It’s working quite well because the clients are aware that it’s currently the only possible way. We have a pretty good communication platform with MSTeams, which makes collaboration very easy. So far it has worked great and no one has complained.

Niki: Alexandru and Georg, for both of you it is not the first position you have held after your studies. From your point of view, what are the differences compared to your previous positions? What makes working at MP special?

Georg: At MP, the team is split into lean and focused sector teams which allow for more flexibility and faster decision-making processes. I am now directly working on 4 projects with a 5^th one following soon. The deal flow and exposure to clients are very good! I also already have been travelling throughout Europe to meet clients on-site which was a great learning experience. The work environment at MP is very good with nice colleagues that have a collaborative and supportive attitude. 

Alexandru: I can only agree with Georg. I was at a huge company where it is very complicated to get involved, so if you come up with new ideas at MP, you can implement them and you are supported. And I’m totally with Georg about project exposure and leader organisation.

Niki: Paul and Dennis, you are part of the Master programme at MP and working as Business Development Analysts. What are your experiences regarding the combinability of your studies and the Master programme?

Paul: Very pleasantly combinable. I was positively surprised! In the beginning, it was quite demanding to familiarise yourself with processes at MP and study at the same time with a lot of homework, which you nowadays get because professors believe that now you have nothing else to do :-). The programme is flexible in terms of time management, I learn a lot, which I am very enthusiastic about.

Dennis: Home office has a big advantage in terms of (not) commuting between MP and university. Studying is a big challenge for me at the moment, but within the team, you get a lot of support and understanding. It is also accepted if you have less time to work at one moment and can devote more time to work at other times.

Niki: Moses and Norajr, for you MP is the first station after your graduation. Which roles & tasks did you have in the last weeks & months?

Norajr: This is my first permanent position after graduation. I have had many tasks in the research and longlist area, but also tasks with a lot more responsibility than I was used to before, for example working on business plans and direct contact with clients on calls. I was allowed to be present at a site visit, which was a great experience. You feel that you get a lot of responsibility as well and the tasks are diverse. I have learned/been shown new areas of responsibility that I haven’t done before!

Moses: What I really like about the exposure as a junior is that we also have contact with clients. We are present at meetings and don’t just do the technical stuff in the background. It’s nice to get a complete overview of the project. For example, you also get insights into how our managers communicate with customers and how the entire project is run. MP allows you to have insights into projects and get responsibility.

Niki: Isabella, why did you decide to come back to MP?

Isabella: The team spirit was the decisive point for me to come back to MP. Employees are valued and flexibility is offered for those of us still studying like I am. At MP, you can also bring your ideas and way of work into the company to simplify areas of duty. MP has managed, even in challenging times like during Covid19, to make us (virtually) see each other and motivate the team through online team events.

Niki: What were your expectations and perceptions of MP? Have these come true?

Isabella: Yes! I have been given many new tasks and more responsibility.

Norajr: My expectations were met and exceeded, I didn’t expect to have such close contact with clients and I learned more about how M&A works than I knew before.

Dennis: My expectations were also exceeded. You read a lot about the company before the interview/application process, but when you experience it for yourself, it’s a completely different feeling. Even as a Business Development Analyst, you are involved in every process so that the input you give is seen to be worth something.

Paul: I am very excited and positively surprised how well the home office works and working for MP. It also allows for flexibility in terms of time. My expectations were exceeded because I thought working 25 hours and studying on the side would be tough, but it’s possible within this provided setup.

Alexandru: I would say because of Covid19 you can’t classify it as normal. Without Covid19, it would be even more dynamic and enthusiastic because we would see each other physically too.

Moses: I really like the integration at MP, but also the team dynamics. The colleagues are always understanding and helpful, you can ask questions at any time and my expectations were also met.

Niki: Thank you for your time and for providing your insights to our readers!