"zeb is one of the leading management consultancies in the financial services industry, and yet it has still preserved its down-to-earth character."
Release date: 09 December 2021
Dennis works as a consultant in our specialist area IT Consulting. In his testimonial, he talks about why zeb caught his attention and why he chose to apply for a job with us. Additionally, he gives us a glimpse into the topics that he is currently dealing with.
What did you do before joining zeb?
zeb first caught my attention at the e-fellows.net IT Day in Frankfurt. At the time, I hadn’t finished my studies yet, but zeb stuck in my mind because of the positive initial conversations and its focus on financial services. A couple of months before I completed my master thesis, I applied as a consultant without hesitation and joined zeb immediately after I had graduated.
What was your application process like?
I just applied in the normal way to an online job ad that was posted on a career website. Shortly afterwards, I was invited to a one-hour phone interview with staff from Recruiting. A few weeks later I had three specialist interviews: in the first and second, I had to solve a case study, while the third interview was a casual chat with a partner.
Why did you decide to start your career at zeb?
zeb’s key topics were the main reason, as I’m really interested in them personally. And I knew that I would be able to learn a lot at zeb. My university studies focused on finance and machine learning, and I can apply the expertise that I gained during my degree course both freely and effectively at zeb. Thanks to the Practice Group structure, I can choose individually on which topics I would like to work with others. In addition, zeb values commitment – contrary to other companies, at least in my experience.
What do you like most about your position as an IT consultant?
There is much space for individual liberty. Although it is expected, and rightly so, that you take a proactive approach and develop topics, you have many different options to choose from at zeb. For instance, you can freely choose your Practice Group (PG). In your PG, you explore new topics together with colleagues and you work on subjects according to your interests.
As regards my work, I can say that each project is what I make of it. As long as I fulfill my essential tasks, I can acquire knowledge about new topics and assume responsibility for them.
How would you describe the atmosphere at zeb?
All my colleagues interact with each other in a very friendly and cooperative way. I also work with colleagues, for example, who are neither in my project nor in my PG, but whose expertise is required in certain situations in combination with my own knowledge. In my experience, everyone at zeb is happy to help and share their know-how on such occasions.
What have you learned at zeb so far?
Professionally I have learned a great deal. So far, I have learned a lot about chatbots and “non-performing loan prediction”. These are two topics which I’m researching in my PG as part of our development of future topics.
I’m also involved in a very interesting project that deals with the start-up of a new bank. In the course of this project, I have gained numerous insights into the core banking business, into banking IT, as well as into agile development.
What makes zeb special in your opinion?
zeb is one of the leading management consultancies in the financial services industry, and yet it has still preserved its down-to-earth character. I have the impression that other consultancies don’t seem to manage this. Of course, my daily work takes a lot out of me, as is normal in the consultancy business. But I feel respected and appreciated at zeb.