Hi Everyone!

It has been a long time since I posted a report on my life at Kühne Logistics University. In this entry, I’ll give you a summary about becoming a working student and of course I will let you know how my first semester courses went.

Before I start telling you about the subjects, I’ll cover the “working student” topic. This might be especially interesting for foreign students who need to finance their stay in Hamburg. And of course we also have to pay for our leisure time activities...

Becoming a working student

Here in Germany, there is a regulation saying that companies can hire full-time students for up to 20 hours/week. The average wage starts at €8.50/ hour (the minimum wage now) and can go as high as approximately €15/hour. Consulting firms pay the highest wages.

Companies actually have an incentive to employ students because they do not have to pay social insurance and pension plans for students. This saves them a lot of costs in comparison to regular employees and you are part of the highly educated work force. Other students told me that if you really want to find a job, you will get one! It doesn't matter where you are from.

I can tell you that having a side job can be challenging but also has a tremendous advantage. It really depends on how many hours you work per week. If you only work 10 hours/week, this probably won’t have an impact on your studies. But if it comes to 15 or 20 hours/week, you will see that you need to plan your time properly during group projects – plus working in groups becomes challenging. I know that the feeling for time can vary a lot from country to country. Because KLU is international, you will be members of very diverse teams. Just keep this in mind. It will be a new experience for many of you!

Life at KLU

Work and studies are just one aspect of life! Because KLU is not a huge university, the students get to know each other well. This includes the bachelor’s and master’s students, MBA students, and PHD candidates. ( Getting to know MBA students might be an advantage for a future job or an internship).

And of course you spend more time with your fellow students at the university :). We have a student lounge, for example, which is pretty unique from what I know about universities. This student lounge is the place to go before and after lectures. It has a nice chill-out area with a big TV, fridge, coffee machine, microwave – and most importantly, table soccer! Table soccer is very popular among the students. From time to time, we organize big matches between different countries or the master’s students vs. the bachelor’s students.

KLU students have 24/7 access to the building (student lounge + study rooms). This means the student lounge is a perfect place for the students to meet up for movie nights and a few drinks. (By the way, the student lounge ALWAYS has to remain clean. If it does not, we will no longer have 24/7 access.) And a lot of parties take place in the student lounge. If students decide to celebrate more intensely, they usually leave for the city center and go to a bar or club.

This 24/7 access also gives students the option to study at the time of the day that suits them best. If you come to KLU after lecture times, you will ALWAYS see some students studying. A big advantage of studying in the building is that the study rooms are perfect for group studying. They are well equipped with flipcharts, whiteboards, and markers. If a student needs to study in silence, the lower level of the library is the perfect spot. This section is also open 24/7, but books can only be accessed during the library’s opening hours.

Subjects during the semester

In general, I can say that the lectures exceeded my expectations in many ways. All of our professors integrated the students in the lectures. In nearly all the subjects, at least one or two group case studies were part of the lecture. All of them were related to current business problems. I will try to give some examples here:

In Logistics Networks for example, we did three projects. In the semester project, we analyzed the potential for using drones in today’s business world. The second project was a logistics network case in which we used professional software worth €15,000. We calculated the optimal distribution of warehouses and production facilities for a production company in North America, taking an expected change in demand into account. In the third project, we applied construction and improvement heuristics to find the optimal facility layout.

Professors do not just assign case studies to integrate their students. They also do role-plays. In Intercultural Management and Business Communication, we did exercises in every lecture to apply what we just learned. This was great fun!

In Intercultural Management, we did short exercises like building a bridge out of paper. The people who constructed the bridge were part of a different culture than the ones who gave the instructions on how to build it. Of course this ended up in chaos and giggles. But it showed how different views and understanding can affect the efficiency of work processes that seem to be clear and standard to everyone. And this is only one example…

In Business Communication, the professor put the emphasis on business negotiations. After each lecture, we had the task of putting the negotiation tactics we just learned into practice! Once a week, groups of us had to go to regular shops to negotiate discounts. Believe me ... it’s not much work to get a 20% discount. The outcome is not just useful for your business life; it is also highly useful for your private life!

We also have had a lot of guest lecturers in Logistics Networks and Business Communication, companies like KPMG, Daimler, Otto Group, Heidelberg, Hero, Kühne + Nagel, CEB, Zalando, Infineon, DB International, and some others. These lectures are always perfect opportunities to get in touch with professionals and maybe launch a career!!

There are also some subjects that teach economics. Without economics, we wouldn't understand the needs and successes of complex logistics systems. This is why we take Managerial Economics and Global Economy and Trade. These lectures are frontal, since we have to learn many formulas, but one thing was special. The professors tracked how the class was progressing with the information. When they figured out they had been too quick, the professors took the time to re-discuss old essential models.

Studying at KLU is not just enriching my knowledge. It is also connecting me with businesses to improve my chance for getting a job after graduation! Never forget your dear fellow students, who are also striving for a good position. May be they can help you one day ;).

I am really looking forward to my second semester at KLU. But while writing this entry, I realized that it is not so easy to remember all the details. I will try to write a blog entry each month to give you more details on the lectures and the special topics we are discussing.

More info on the MSc in Global Logistics

If you have any other questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail: Soeren.Meyer@gl.the-klu.org or contact our “Ask a student” team on Facebook.

See you soon!
Sernyschko ;)

Sören

MSc in Global Logistics
Kuehne Logistics University