At the age of 31, Claudia Anderle became general manager of a 4-star hotel. A career springboard was a work and travel stay in Australia. This also helps her today when recruiting new ones Employees.

Claudia Anderle
Contents Hide

The call of the big, wide world

Even if you Career-Weg somehow sounds logical, Claudia Anderle actually never wanted to work in the hotel business. Growing up in Paderborn, where she also completed her master’s degree in tourism/geography with business administration and languages ​​(French) at the University of Paderborn, she worked at the airport while she was studying.

But then the big, wide lured Welt: “I wanted after that Study again longer away. And since I had an aunt in Perth, Australia, my WorkandTravel stay was then just a formality.” It was precisely during this stay in Australia that she laid the foundation for her rapid career. Your recipes for a successful career in Germany: “Learning by doing” and “Leading by example”. smart Work and travelers it also offers jobs.

Australia as a career skier

For Anderle, however, it was clear that she wanted to use her stay in Australia in a targeted manner to advance her career: "I was already 27 at the time, so I didn't want to just take a break, I wanted to work in Australia specifically," she says.

Therefore, from now on she pursued this goal with determination: “I always give what I have to give for mine Set to reach. Perseverance, assertiveness and positive thinking always helped me. "

With stubbornness to success

But finding an adequate job was not as easy as I thought: “Since WorkundTravel people often only stay in one place for a short time, they have a reputation among employers as being somewhat inconsistent. It is therefore difficult to get a qualified job. ” So she got her first job as a receptionist only with determination and persuasiveness:

“I knew that I could only convince personally. So I walked to the hotel with my documents and wanted to speak to the manager. When I was told he had no time, I said 'well, then I'll wait'. In this way I was able to demonstrate that I am aiming for a longer-term career. ”

Rise after only 3 months

After three months, however, Anderle was looking for new challenges and applied as a receptionist for her current employer Adina in Perth, Australia. However, since she had been offered a supervisor job three days earlier, the signs had changed: "I then said that the receptionist was no longer enough for me".

Then Anderle was offered the job as a duty manager - this is the interface between the general manager and all operational departments. "I was responsible for complaints and reception and checked invoices and reservations," she summarizes her new area of ​​responsibility.

Sponsorship for the visa

After six months, the hotel offered her a sponsorship. That is a Business-Visa, with which Anderle could have worked in Australia for a longer period of time. but she declined: “I wanted to take a three-month sabbatical – and because of the geographic proximity and cultural diversity of Southeast Asia travel", she tells. "Had I embraced that at the time, I might still be in Australia."

In her next job, a hotel in the small town of Broom in Western Australia, she was offered a sponsorship again, but then the laws were tightened: "My hotel simply no longer met the conditions." That was for Anderle clearthat she had to leave Australia.

Career planning with wanderlust

But maybe not forever - even if she is currently happy as general manager in Berlin: "I am proud that my hard work has paid off and I am glad that after many changes of location at home and abroad I now have a permanent position." Long-term career and family planning is what Claudia Anderle currently has priority.

"But once you've been abroad for a longer period of time, you always carry the travel bug in your heart," she says. And the memory of Australia is always present: “The climate combined with a western standard of living is unique. So if the opportunity presents itself…”

Ideas against skills shortage

However, the experiences of the work and travel period still help her today when it is very practical in the Everyday life management decisions such as recruiting new employees.

When Claudia Anderle left Australia in 2009, she initially decided to travel through Southeast Asia for another six months. "I may have had the opportunity to do that for the last time in my life," she said. I didn't plan to be general manager today, on the contrary: “If I had been told that five years ago, I wouldn't have believed it.”

On the way, she contacted the Adina chain in Germany: “I had the Companys in Australia for half a year successfully worked – maybe they had a job for me there in Germany as well?”

Adina ladies

In the right place at the right time

And, as so often, Anderle was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time: “The Adina Hotel in Frankurt was new to the market just three months ago. And I was hired as a duty manager. First only for three months - I didn't want to commit myself any longer. ”

Then came the chance to start working as an Assistant Manager at the newly opened Adina Hotel in Hamburg. “The opening Team Leading was a great new challenge. But again I only wanted to commit myself for three months. "

“You can get into a lot of things”

When the Adina Hotel in Frankfurt did not have a general manager for a while, Anderle was asked if they wanted to bridge this vacancy as relief managers. For Anderle this offered the opportunity to sniff into the unfamiliar responsibility on a temporary basis:

“It hasn't always been rosy, but in many Tasks you can sneak in. And I had a lot of support from corporate headquarters,” reports Anderle. When she was finally offered the position of General Manager at the Adina Hotel at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Anderle didn't have one Anxiety before the responsibility more - and says "yes" without hesitation:

"I knew what was coming!"

“During my time as a relief manager, I was able to estimate what was going to happen to me.” Today she sees it as a great pleasure to see things grow: “It is nice when you initiate changes and see what comes out of it. In my previous positions, I had no long-term success monitoring, ”she reports.

She usually works from Monday to Friday, on average 10 hours a day, depending on the season. At the weekend, she often does administrative tasks: "I can wear jeans here," she says. In addition, she is available for her employees around the clock: "But it happens at most once a month that I get rung out," said Anderle.

No 9to5 job

Your job is not a regulated 9to5 job. "However, I cannot ask my employees to work overtime if I am not willing to do it myself," says the perfectionist, who always gives 150 percent.

She calls this managementMethod – exemplify what you expect from yourself: “It is important to me that there is a positive team feeling and everyone Fun to master challenges together.”

Leading by Example

For Anderle, leading by example also includes me and others' own weaknesses to admit: “It is fatal when you act as if you already know everything. If necessary, I can also ask for help.” Anderle wants to convince with her work:

“Envy – you have to get over it, to the best of your ability Background act with conscience and not offer a target for attack,” she says. And of course you should also treat your employees well, down to the smallest trainee. “In this way, despite more informal interactions, I also get myself as a Boy Manager Respect”, Anderle is convinced.

Successful recruiting

As with many hotels, it is no longer easy for Adina to find suitable, well-trained professionals - even in Berlin. Especially in the service or in the kitchen it is sometimes difficult, Anderle states. Here, good career opportunities within the company, as the manager knows from her own experience.

She also helped her, this one Problem to solve: She is currently looking for work and travel employees who are stationed in Berlin, especially for service. "It's a win-win situation for both sides," says Anderle. And who knows, maybe this will result in unexpected career opportunities for one or the other, as with the hotel manager herself.

Dear Australia or Germany?

Speaking of manners - would she have preferred to stay in Australia? “Back then, yes. But I also always tell myself that when a door closes somewhere, a new one opens. And I would probably have made a career in Australia too. " Wouldn't that have been a little different? “Sure, Australia's management relationships are looser, just because of the 'You'. In Germany I first had to get used to structures and etiquette. "

What she wouldn't want to miss is her job at Adina, which is also an Australian company: “I've always been lucky enough to have good employers, but my heart is attached to this house. In Australia I loved it when 10 nations sat at one table, it opens you up to cultural differences. Such a hotel is cultural diversity on a micro level.