BASF Management Consulting – strategic, effective advice

• More than five years of professional experience
• Master’s degree in management from European Business School (EBS) in Oestrich-Winkel with majors in consulting and strategy
• Various internships in both academia and industry
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India

Born in a village in northern India, Aswani grew up in Kolkata, in the east of the country, as one of three siblings. Starting in childhood, he was an enthusiastic player of team sports, with a special passion for cricket. He was so enthusiastic, in fact, that right up until secondary school he was planning to become a professional player – until his brother, an engineer himself, showed him a different possibility.

And so Aswani started a program toward a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India. Although he enjoyed his studies, they still weren’t enough to slake his thirst for knowledge. He always wanted to discover more, and he knew he definitely wanted to gain international experience. He applied for a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellowship, which took him first to the University of Rostock for a research internship in electrical and electronics engineering. During that time, Aswani traveled as much as possible throughout Europe, both on his own and for work. The experience brought him back to Germany a few years later.

After he earned his bachelor’s degree, Aswani went to work for a Japanese-Indian joint venture. A short time later, he took on his first management role there, as head of production planning and production control. “It was a formative period,” Aswani recalls today: “I assumed a lot of responsibility there. I often had to make decisions that would have a big impact on the company’s success. I really liked that.”

• Nine years as a project manager at a top management consulting firm
• Doctorate in strategic management from Technische Universität Berlin
• Continuing education at Harvard Business School
• Diplom degree in international business administration from the University of Tübingen with study abroad at McGill University, in Canada

Setting out to visit a client at half past five Monday morning and not getting back home until Friday evening: For years, that was Jens’s day-to-day life. He spent an intense, exciting, but also stressful nine years working as a consultant for a leading management consulting firm, working on many different projects in the process. “The work was challenging, and I learned a lot, but I always pursued my personal interests along the way, too.”

About every two years, Jens took the time for something personal, whether to earn a doctorate or take parental leave after the births of his two children. For another project, he spent several months on sabbatical in Rwanda to carry out various aid projects there. Together with the local community, he coordinated the construction of restroom facilities for children’s homes, established a support program for widows, and arranged for instructional materials for local schools, for example. “Thanks to my many experiences working on projects and my time abroad, especially in Rwanda, I have learned to reflect on things and adopt a bird’s-eye perspective. I always try to understand the context in which my customers, teams, and friends are operating,” he says. “Having a better overall understanding means I can gear my own actions better toward the goal, and I generally operate with a calmer approach.”

When his children were born, Jens started a new phase of his life. Being with a client every day instead of with the family was now out of the question, but he didn't want to give up challenging work on projects or career opportunities, either.

BASF Management Consulting gives him a way to balance the two. Jens has worked here in the position of Senior Project Manager for more than two years now. “The projects are similar to those I used to work on at the external consulting firm in terms of being challenging and diverse. But I have more contact with the top management now, and more freedom to shape things. Besides that, the fact that I work mainly locally means I have more time to spend with family, even as I keep all my doors open, professionally speaking. From subject-specific further development to an international career, there are all kinds of options, but no pressure to take them.”