Daniel Konecny
Industrial Product Manager North Europe
How has your journey with Prysmian Group started?
I started as graduate in the Central and East Europe region. My home base for the first six months was our Budapest office. With the help of our R&D team in Budapest and occasional travels to our factories in Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic, I was gradually introduced to the cable industry. During the following 3 months, I worked in Operations in our factory in Czech Republic. There, I had the opportunity to work as operator for one month. During the last three months of my first year, I worked on different customer related projects in the region. Afterwards, I was offered an international assignment in Sweden, which I of course accepted.
How was your international assignment?
During my international assignment, I worked with market intelligence in our regional North Europe office. Since it was a newly created function, the beginnings were challenging. We needed to establish new responsibilities and defend its benefits for the region. Thanks to these, I have learnt a lot about our customers, markets and competitors across different industries and countries – knowledge I still benefit from in my current position. Towards the end of my international assignment, I was offered the position of industrial product manager for the North Europe Region. The new position requires cooperation with other countries and great network all around the world, which I already had thanks to the graduate program since day one.
What do you like most about your current position?
I like that I am given lot of responsibilities with great possibilities to influence decisions, dealing with dynamic and challenging projects, and working in a truly multicultural environment.
How did you find the selection process?
The selection process was rather long. However, given the number of applicants, it is crucial that Prysmian Group evaluates carefully every single applicant. The process started with the online application. Shortly after, I was invited for online tests. The purpose of the tests was to assess my personality and challenge my language skills, numerical and verbal reasoning. I found these tests rather difficult and never thought I could pass them. In the next steps, I was invited for face to face interviews and a group assessment. Once these were passed, few phone interviews with the line manager and our HR followed. Luckily all worked out well for me and I am now part of Prysmian Group.
What did you enjoy most during the graduate program?
The greatest part of the program is meeting new people and visiting new places. Basically, from day one, you already have the network of other graduates from all around the world. Once a year, all graduates meet in Milan. Except the annual meetings, we also managed to organize exciting trips together outside of work.
Why would you recommend Prysmian Group Graduate Program?
I truly believe it is a great opportunity for young talents to start their international carrier. Prysmian Group offer many possibilities to further develop different skills and knowledge, not only during the program but also in your next assignments. You are given a lot of responsibilities and lot of trust from day one.
