Petra Steffens
Current Employer/Organisation Name
German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Berlin School of Economics and Law
Can you give us an overview of what you have done since you completed your research degree?
– Researcher and manager in natural language understanding at IBM Germany and IBM Euroco (1983 – 1999)
– Researcher at Fraunhofer Society in the field of eGovernment and Software Architectures (1999 – 2021)
– 2 additional academic degrees: M.Sc. in Computer Science (1988, University Bonn), Ph.D. in Computer Science (2017, Technical University Berlin)
– Project Lead at German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (since 2023)
– Lecturer at Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR) and at Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) (since 2021)
How did you become interested in the area you work in?
Managing complex IT projects and teaching are two things that I find extremely challenging, rewarding, and contributing to my personal development.
How did you find opportunities in the area you work in and how did the recruitment process work?
Personal network.
What does your current role involve?
As project leader: know-how about a wide range of methods: requirements engineering, resource planning, risk analysis, stakeholder analysis, compliance issues, procurement processes, and most important of all, skills in communication, moderation, and people management.
As lecturer: knowledge of the subjects I teach, project management, process management, research methodologies, and, of course, teaching methods.
For both areas, I need to have knowledge about domain-specific IT tools like Moodle for teaching or Jira for project management.
What skills are involved in your work and how did your research degree help develop them?
Skills: see previous question
Contribution of my degrees: developing persistence and determination
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Broadening my own knowledge, passing on experience and knowledge to others.
What are the challenges in your role?
Balancing interests and handling conflicts.
What has surprised you about your role?
My ability to assume the guide for others.
Did you engage in any additional activities or roles (i.e. organising conferences, entering PGR showcase, being a PGR Rep etc.) during your research degree, and how did these help prepare you for a career beyond academia?
All these tasks were part of my jobs both at IBM and at Fraunhofer.
What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?
Management skills and developing perseverance.
What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?
When pursuing a career as project leader or manager, talk, talk, talk and listen, listen, listen to people. Try to detect possible risks, traps, objections and resistance at a very early point in time and counteract them.
What are your plans for the future?
Broadening my teaching subjects.
