Everyday Professional

05.01.2022 — The Hamburg sales colleagues of Dussmann Service Germany know that they can rely on Abd Alazem Alshaikha: Not only does he keep track of all the tasks in the office, as an office-based sales representative he supports the sales managers by compiling all the necessary documents to be successful in tenders from potential clients.

As a child, Abd Alazem Alshaikha wanted to be a pilot or captain of a large ship. However, his career took a completely different course due to the civil war in Syria where he had to leave high school. He came to Germany as a refugee at the end of 2015 and he started by attending language courses.  

He learned new skills at Dussmann; during a five-month internship, he was made familiar with all areas of office management. He impressed the team with his willingness and commitment, and so in 2019, Abd Alazem Alshaikha started training as an office management assistant and he is now a valued team member. He has been working in in-house sales support since June. 

Looking back, the language barrier was the biggest challenge. He now speaks excellent German, but the difficulties lie in daily interaction. At school, you learn formal language structures, but in sales you must also have a perfect command of colloquial phrases and idioms; it is with small talk that customers’ doors are opened. 

It is a real success story. And 27-year-old Abd Alazem Alshaikha still has many plans: Next year, he would also like to start work in out-house sales from tendering and cost calculation to contract negotiation. He wants to focus on client relationships and on the cooperation between the service divisions. 

It will not be a ship or a plane, but we are sure that our colleague will be steering something big one day.