Thomas Dannerbauer

2009 | Technological Business Administration

Thomas Dannerbauer talks about his colourful CV, his internship abroad, his placement in Madrid and his time as board director at the Verein AlumniNet e.V.

Career Development

In my rather colourful resume, I simply start where I think it might be interesting: After graduating (Quali) I did an apprenticeship as a specialist for employment promotion at the job centre, which made me realise quickly that the job market is not always a walk in the park, but also that I am interested in many other areas in the economic sector and therefore outside the job centre. Therefore, I had no other choice than to bite the bullet and take the technical baccalaureate in Deggendorf. After a short detour to the vocational academy at the discount store Aldi I finally ended up at the TH Deggendorf...and that was a good thing!

I studied technical business administration in Deggendorf from 2005 to 2009, which opened up a quite broad spectrum of professions. My first job after my studies was in the aviation industry at MTU Aero Engines in Munich in technical purchasing. I really enjoyed the daily contact with suppliers in the U.S. and Mexico, with the employees in the highly complex production and with the experienced quality engineers. But at first I was completely blank in terms of content, and my colleagues often heard me say, "What's this metal thing here?

In 2012, it was time to go one step further and I became Global Commodity Manager at BSH (Bosch's home appliances division). There I was responsible for global strategic purchasing for electronics in the small appliances division of the Household Appliances division. As it turned out to be a very exciting and dynamic field, I spent almost five years traveling the world for BSH. Parallel to my job, I trained for over three years in continuing education and completed my NLP Master and NLP Trainer (NLP - Neurolinguistic Programming) in 2017. This resulted in a job at BSH headquarters as a global lean management coach and trainer for indirect areas, where I have been working since July 2017. I help colleagues to question their working methods across cultural boundaries. I offer them methods and techniques to independently create improvements in terms of collaboration, effectiveness and efficiency.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

Time... that was something, contrary to today, I had. It was a great time of trial and error and of looking beyond the horizon. Thanks to the various seminars, events and the cool leisure activities offered by the university, you could quickly make contacts and it never got boring. As a semester speaker and member of various university committees, I also had the opportunity to experience more internal affairs. My "job" as a board member of AlumniNet e.V. was also very exciting and showed me what it means to keep several balls in the air. Four months of an internship abroad in a small company in Madrid finally brought my Spanish language skills to an acceptable level. Right after the internship my wallet was empty, so that I also worked in marketing at a solar company as a working student. Since I was already used to working, I wrote my diploma thesis at MAN in Munich in the purchasing department and dealt with the optimization of value flows and relocation back to Germany, among other things. After seven semesters I received my diploma in business administration.

What advice would you give to today's students?

For me, studying means trying things out, getting a taste of the topics and above all leaving one's own comfortzone to see what's out there. Be committed and use the time to broaden your horizon professionally, but also personally. What else...hmmm...have fun, enjoy the many opportunities in Deggendorf and make friends (maybe) for life!

Thomas Hofbauer

Business Administration (dual)

Thomas Hofbauer still loves to visit the town, which functions as the door to the Bavarian Forest and thinks back to his exciting days as a student with a smile on his face.

Career Development

After graduating from high school, I decided to do a dual course of studies at DIT. In the course of my business administration studies (dual training as Bachelor & Banker) I acquired extensive knowledge of service-specific relationship processes in a regional bank. This also prompted me to develop further in the psychosocial field in addition to my business administration studies, and so I enrolled for a master's degree in business psychology at the FHAM Erding.

At the same time, as head of the e-commerce department at VR-Bank Rottal-Inn eG, I was responsible for the topic of digital sales and innovation and gained a great deal of knowledge in the areas of online marketing, online strategy and social media advertising through my certification as head of online business at the Academy of Bavarian Cooperatives. Since the main focus of my master studies, marketing and coaching, gave me a lot of pleasure, I decided to turn my back on the world of finance and orientate myself elsewhere. Through an assessment centre I acquired the position of deputy press spokesman in the district office of Rottal-Inn and was also responsible for the digital media presence. Since the middle of 2018 I am now office manager of the district administrator of Rottal-Inn. As office manager, I am in charge of the District Administrator's office (e.g. assignment of tasks and personnel management of the employees in the District Administrator's office). As personal assistant to the District Administrator, I am responsible for the coordination of the District Administrator's business and the preparation of appointments for the office management as well as the management function of the management level of the District Administrator's Office. In addition, I coordinate the preparation of the content of the meetings of the District Council and its committees and take part in almost all meetings.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

The time of my studies in Deggendorf was legendary, and I still think back often to that time with a smile on my face. The town of Deggendorf is just the right size, it offers the nightlife of a big city, but you feel safe like in a village, everything is within walking distance. The cultural diversity that the campus offers has broadened my horizon immensely and has enabled me to make many intercultural friendships, some of which still last until today. I still enjoy visiting the city, which is the gateway to the Bavarian Forest, and think back to a unique time of study. Does the phenomenal currywurt still exist at Otto's?

What advice would you give to today's students?

The most important thing during the study time is, besides the lectures, self-organisation and a sensible time management to divide the learning material and to use synergy effects by learning together with fellow students. And above all: do not push exams! That will certainly catch up with you. If you do reach your limit, I can only advise you to seek direct contact with the professors. Especially the professors at DIT are not sitting in an ivory tower, but are there for the students when they need them - I have always appreciated that. And last but not least: even if you miss a mark - don't let yourself down, much more important are the contacts and networks, the experiences as well as internships and projects and these can be built up and maintained very well at DIT.