Sven Bandilla
We move people – Sven Bandilla im Interview
From apprenticeships to a trainee programme to a part-time degree - Sven has already mastered a lot in his career at Umicore so far.
"For me, working at Umicore means contributing to a global and innovative company where my personal strengths are recognised and promoted, where I can pursue interesting activities and where I am offered numerous opportunities."
| You started with us in 2010 with an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and are now a Precious Metals Trader - which means you deal with gold, platinum, palladium and other valuable precious metals on a daily basis. Can you tell us something about your career at Umicore so far? |
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"After my apprenticeship, my career started in our Precious Metals Management business unit. There, I initially went through a trainee program in Customer Service. The difference between this and a permanent job with responsibility was that I was allowed to get to know the entire department and was trained on each position. Afterwards, I did take over a permanent field of responsibility and was in charge of the "International Trade Business", which enabled me to establish first contacts with international traders and banks. Step by step and at my request, my field of activity was expanded to include financial controlling tasks. In the meantime, I started a part-time business study program in Frankfurt in 2014, which I successfully completed in 2018 as a Bachelor of Arts in the field of "Business Administration". Through my studies, I was able to internalise the economic contexts and support the practical part of my job with the corresponding theory. Furthermore, my studies smoothed the way for my next career step at Umicore's trading desk, where I first worked as a junior trader for the platinum group metals. I have been a Precious Metals Trader for four years now and, in addition to trading, I also deal with the market analysis of precious metals." |
| A part-time university degree sounds exciting and challenging at the same time. How did you manage to maintain your work-life balance during this stressful time? |
| "Studying alongside a full-time job and the ambition to expand my area of responsibility within the department was certainly exciting but also very challenging and demanding. Self-discipline and especially good time management were key for me and I still benefit from my experiences today. Still, it was not uncommon for my work-life situation to become unbalanced. During this time, however, I was able to rely on the support of my family and also Umicores flexitime model helped me to balance my working hours with my evening learning phases." |
| A lot has changed for you job-wise in the last few years. How do you want to continue your journey? |
| "Umicore offers me different perspectives. The field of work of a Precious Metals Trader is very varied and always changing due to the volatile market situations. So I would probably never get bored at Umicore’s door to the global precious metals market. But there is also a spirit of optimism throughout the Group as it strives to become the leader in terms of sustainability, and there are always exciting developments that pique my interest." |
