Taking responsibility, boosting motivation and maintaining passion – mindsquare AG lives its values and sponsors a Deutschlandstipendium at our faculty. In the interview, HR Director Timm Funke talks about future topics in IT, breaks with prejudices and gives tips for entering the IT industry.

With mindsquare AG, you have decided to support a student by funding the Deutschlandstipendium. What is your motivation behind this?

In the current times, it is even more important to take responsibility and to support students financially as well. The Deutschlandstipendium offers the perfect opportunity to get in touch with students and accompany them on their career path. The transfer of knowledge plays an important role for us, so that we can also develop further as a company.

What qualities of students do you particularly want to recognize and support with this?

In order to receive a scholarship, it usually takes more than just very good grades. Here, we would like to support above all those students who not only have their eyes set on their goals with ambition, motivation and a willingness to perform, but also put in the effort to achieve them.

The IT industry is characterized by change and innovation. Which topics will come to the fore in the near future? How are the job profiles developing?

Topics such as artificial intelligence or analytics & BI are often mentioned in combination with change and innovation. However, we are also concerned with the digitization of corporate processes. This is primarily about understanding our customer’s organization, but also being prepared to take new paths and promote innovation.

What is mindsquare doing to help shape developments in the industry and keep its finger on the pulse?

Communication is an essential factor in order not to miss any current developments and to “keep our finger on the pulse”. We exchange ideas and share our knowledge with each other.

Comment on the following sentence: “Computer scientists spend the whole day alone in front of the computer.”

Having a passion for IT does not necessarily mean spending all day in front of a computer. For us, it means above all using the expert knowledge we have built up to manage projects, support customers and achieve excellent results. And that goes beyond the virtual activities at the PC – namely also on site in discussions, workshops and general exchanges.

What is the best way for graduates to prepare for entry into the IT industry?

I don’t think there is a universal answer here. From my point of view, it is important, despite all the demands and also the pressure to perform, not to lose the fun in IT and to find exactly the activity (especially at the entry level) that offers this opportunity.