A career requires the right attitude: ESB alumni embark on their professional lives

For the newly qualified alumni, their studies at the ESB Business School came to an end on Saturday with the traditional hat-tossing ceremony. At the graduation ceremony in Reutlingen’s Stadthalle, students and lecturers looked back on their time together. The common theme of the speeches was: stay human and take responsibility.

Keynote speaker Stefan Hirth, a graduate from the class of 1998, set the tone. After completing his MBA at ESB, his career took off rapidly: his CV features renowned companies such as Bosch Rexroth. Then, in his mid-40s, came the turning point: Hirth moved to a global market leader in mechanical engineering and quickly realised: “My enjoyment of work, my positive energy, was lost. I realised: I’m functioning, but I’m no longer making an impact.” At that point, he decided he would no longer take jobs solely for the sake of his career. So, in his early 50s, Hirth reinvented himself and is now a consultant and systemic coach. His key message to the graduates: “A career is not a title, but an impact. And that comes from one’s attitude.”

Prof. Dr Markus Conrads, Dean of the ESB Business School, elaborates on this: He pointed out a key difference that many graduates only truly understand once they enter the world of work: “During our studies, we learn models. In practice, we make decisions based on incomplete information and must take responsibility for them.” It is precisely in such situations that it becomes clear whether someone is merely good at analysing or is actually capable of taking action. The increasing availability of artificial intelligence further intensifies these demands. Whilst AI can provide many answers, what it cannot reliably do is to identify what really matters in a specific individual case. The real competitive advantage in future will therefore lie less in devising perfect solutions than in the ability to ask the right questions and to distinguish the essential from the non-essential.

For Reutlingen’s Lord Mayor Thomas Keck, an excellent education is more valuable than ever. Change, he said, is a mandate to shape the future. “Take responsibility; be courageous,” Keck advised the graduates. In doing so, he echoed Stefan Hirth’s thoughts: “Act in a values-based manner and with attitude.”

Or, to put it simply: “Stay human – in a digital world.” That’s how Constantin Huesker put it. The treasurer of the ESB Reutlingen Alumni Association does not regard artificial intelligence as a threat: “AI understands data, but not reality.”

The graduates confirmed from their own experience that the ESB prepares students for these challenges. Master’s graduate Philipp Dern, now working as a consultant, reflected on his own experience: “My time at ESB equipped me with both the theoretical foundations and the practical tools that I actually use every single day.” He emphasised that it was not just the course itself that was crucial, but also the sense of community: “Our cohort really went full throttle. We motivated one another, we criticised one another, but above all, we brought out the best in each other.” International MBA graduate Bimal Minz recalled one of the first German proverbs he learnt in Reutlingen: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.’ He realised, however, that this advice was a metaphor, for example for the global economy. “In ESB’s demanding MBA programme, we worked together to make our skills weatherproof.”

The graduation ceremony, attended by around 500 guests, provided a festive backdrop for this transition. Yet the central message of the day extended beyond the moment itself: specialist knowledge remains important, but what matters most is how it is applied. This need not be the end, however, but rather a beginning, said Dean and lawyer Markus Conrads. “Become part of the ESB alumni community – ideally as a life sentence.”