10 Years Campus ISM Cologne: Success Comes When You Enjoy Your Job

Starting in the 5th grade, alumnus Martin Bechtloff had an unusual hobby: he was fascinated by financial flows. Where does the money come from, where does it go, and who works with it in what way? As a 12-year-old schoolboy, he thus developed a rather uncommon interest.

As early as the 5th grade, Martin Bechtloff was already diving deep into the business and finance sections of the daily newspaper—and exploring the world of stocks. “Of course, I didn’t understand many of the technical terms. But that only made me more curious.” So he quickly developed the habit of looking up anything unfamiliar.

Was it the mysterious world of numbers? Or, more likely, a desire for financial security? “If it were just about earning well, I’d probably recommend my nephew go into computer science today,” Bechtloff says. Back then, though, it wasn’t about numbers or wealth for him. “I was interested in companies and their business models,” recalls Bechtloff, now in his mid-thirties. He was fascinated by how businesses attract different kinds of customers.

What started with beginner’s questions soon became more complex: What does economic growth really mean, and how does society feel its impact? Martin Bechtloff wanted to understand the broader economic context. After finishing school and studying at ISM’s Cologne campus, many of the ideas he had absorbed from books were confirmed—like the crucial role banks play in a functioning economy.

By then, he was already working as a trainee in the international division of Commerzbank. The fact that ISM opened its fifth university campus in Cologne in 2014 was perfect timing for him to begin a part-time Master’s in 中国足球彩票手机版 Management. “This business program was easy to combine with my job at Commerzbank in Amsterdam. Plus, Cologne had a strong reputation as a city of academia. And of course, international management was exactly what I was looking for to deepen my knowledge.”