He started out as a working student in the IT and is now a Product Owner at Univention. In between there were two other positions and just four and a half years. In this interview, Jan-Luca shares with me the appeal of new career paths and what encouraged him to follow them.
In such a short time from working student in IT, to system engineer and then consultant in professional services, to product owner (PO) in development. How did that come about?
I’m a person who gets bored quickly and likes to dive into new things. I can’t do the same thing all the time. At the beginning, I also didn’t know what I enjoyed most and where I could utilize my skills best. After my studies, I wanted to take the technical path first and switched from working student in IT to system engineer. That was the sensible next step. Over time, I took over more and more tasks as a consultant and found it interesting. When a colleague left Univention, I was asked if I would like to move deeper into consulting.
I thought it would be great to try it out, because as a consultant I had a direct connection to customers and gained much deeper insights than I had previously been able to as a system engineer. It motivated me to solve specific customer problems. At some point, however, I realized that I wanted to pursue a more product-oriented career. I was offered a vacant position as a product owner and since then I have been fully focused on the topic of product ownership at Univention.
Have you done any further training?
Yes, with every switch of position. But when I was a consultant, the training only covered part of my work and I acquired a lot of knowledge myself. When I moved into the PO role, it was important for me to do extensive training right at the start. I opted for the “Certified Scrum Product Owner” training course, which was super important and very valuable for me. I dealt with questions such as: What defines a Product Owner? What does the academic discourse say? How do I want to live this role?
What do you like most about the PO role now?
The combination of variety and a long-term perspective. The project business is more short-term and focused on customer success. In product development on the other hand, I now have the opportunity to plan and design for the long run. The strategic aspect suits me well and I prefer it even more than being tied to a project life cycle. I find it very exciting when I can influence things in the long term and experience the development myself.
Did you ever have any concerns or doubts during all the changes?
Two things immediately come to my mind.
Firstly, the freedom and autonomy to try out new things and move in different directions is not for everyone. What do I mean by that? If a person wants the manager to clearly tell them what to do, then they won’t be happy at Univention. You have to be the type of person who wants to determine and shape how to be successful.
On the other hand, every change also involves a risk. For me, the changes have always worked out well. But of course there was also a certain risk of realizing that I didn’t actually enjoy a particular area after all. So the opportunity to develop further is always a leap into the unknown.
What is your current conclusion as a product owner?
I would like to continue working as a product owner. At the same time, I always want to develop further and not stagnate in one role. But I don’t think that will happen quickly in this role. That’s why I went to the Product Owner Days in Cologne in March, one of the biggest events for POs in Germany, and got a lot of new ideas there. I also read a lot of specialist literature because I want to do things that I haven’t done perfectly even better next time. That works very well in the PO role. In addition, at Univention I always have the opportunity to take responsibility for a new topic that interests me. When I say I want to develop and do more, I always meet with open ears here!
