Thailand, Singapore, Poland – or maybe England? Our Management Trainees are on the move around the world, discovering not just new countries but also different business areas across Burda.
Current and former trainees, including Carolin Maser, Analyst Strategy, BurdaEquity, Josephine Lusch, Investment Associate, Burda Principal Investments, Louisa Sahlberg, Trainee, Immediate, and Bianca Rehle, Trainee, Valiton, opened the event. Bastian Behrens, CEO of Valiton and with Burda for 14 years, then inspired the audience with a speech on mentoring as a mutual process and emphasized the importance of networking.
Whether it was discussing career opportunities, networking, or panel presentations on the topic of “leadership,” our Burda trainees enjoyed an afternoon full of new perspectives and experiences.
Former Burda trainees from companies such as Microsoft, Marc O'Polo, and Tabularaza by zeb contributed new perspectives on the topic of leadership.
Under the motto “What's up @Burda,” former trainees presented projects from their respective departments — from addressing Generation Z at HolidayCheck to international video strategies at BurdaInternational to strategic initiatives at BurdaVerlag.
How does Generation Z travel? Maren Keßler, Brand Marketing & Strategic Development Manager at HolidayCheck, analyzed their travel habits: more frequent, shorter, and more price-conscious — that's how Gen Z vacations. Social media — especially TikTok — serves as a central source of inspiration. HolidayCheck plans to engage this target group more closely by building a community and offering workshops.
Maren explains: “Generation Z is a particularly exciting target group for us, one in which we see great potential. In my role, I try to understand exactly how this generation travels and what we at HolidayCheck can do to further develop our brand and product so that even more young people choose us for their next vacation in the future.”
Cara Buschmann, Strategic Finance Manager at BurdaInternational, demonstrated how BI supports international business units in implementing video strategies. The focus is on knowledge transfer and collaboration between brands to create innovative projects that add value for all involved.
Britt Danwerth, Head of Business Transformation & Strategy at BurdaVerlag, presented the “Empower” strategy program. The program combines nine initiatives covering topics such as culture, AI, and a comprehensive digital offensive.
After a networking session among all event participants, Elisabeth Varn, Co-CEO of BurdaVerlag, and Britt Danwerth shared their experiences from a successful mentor-mentee relationship. Their most important advice to our trainees: Career paths do not have to be strictly planned in advance — they often develop on their own. Flexibility and openness to new opportunities are crucial, especially in the management trainee program.
“Good leadership begins with listening.” Mareike Lehmann, a former trainee and now a systemic coach, mediator, and trainer, opened her keynote speech with this credo. She emphasized how important it is to promote responsibility and strengthen trust — without falling into the role of advisor.
The event concluded with a panel discussion in which Burda alumni from companies such as Microsoft, Marc O'Polo, and zeb shared their experiences with leadership. The key insight: good leadership is based on trust, transparency, and respect. The differences in the companies' feedback cultures were also highlighted: while Denise Lorenz (Microsoft) described a high-performance culture with clear feedback rounds, Silke Walz (Marc O'Polo) emphasized the importance of harmony and honest intent in feedback discussions. The consensus: targeted, constructive feedback is more valuable than too much criticism.
“I found it very impressive and inspiring how openly and honestly all the panel guests talked about their leadership challenges. One theme ran through the discussion: without trust and transparency, (good) leadership does not work, especially in times characterized by growing uncertainty and rapid technological change,” explains Sonja Wiese, Corporate Communications Officer, Hubert Burda Media.
Heiko Engelhardt, CEO of BurdaDruck, rounded off the day with his inspiring career story. He started as a trainee in financial controlling in 1998 and has since held various positions – from production planning to management in Offenburg, Nuremberg, and Vieux-Thann. His advice to the trainees: “Don't worry too much about your future career planning, especially during the trainee program, because things will turn out differently anyway.”
Carolin Maser and Louisa Sahlberg aptly summarize the event:
"It was impressive to see how many former and current management trainees came together. The event showed how strong the bond is across all generations – regardless of how long ago the trainee program was or where the former trainees work today. The networking idea lives on, and the Burda spirit was palpable everywhere." (Carolin Maser)
“The trainee networking event was great fun! It was wonderful to see so many former trainees again and make new contacts. Their personal experiences and reports were very inspiring and informative.” (Louisa Sahlberg)
