Being a native English speaker saps your energy when working in a pure German environment. Don’t get me wrong, I no longer have to translate when speaking the language. I do think, and sometimes even dream in German. But in the technology environment there are literally thousands of technical terms you need to know and know well. I’m in management and attend many senior level meetings, and that’s when the jargon starts flying.
There are so many abbreviations for hundreds of departments, (the firm employs 240,000 worldwide) applications, tools and more. Not only do the abbreviations fly around, but country codes and other things too. Fact is, no matter how knowledgeable you are you’ll have to learn the structure, processes and procedures of the company first. You learn these and learn them fast; you’ll survive, and be successful.
Now I tend to have a knack for this kind of thing and can traverse my way around big organizations rather well. So if I miss a few posts, don’t despair. Once I get settled here in my new job I plan to try and get back to the regular three to four posts a week.
To all you loyal readers out there, Thanks. Thanks for the nice mails and thanks for hanging out with me in my little spot on the web.
Chris
