The former pastor Raul Hamburger "It was always clear to me that I wanted to work as a theologian. My dream was to look after believing athletes who were too prominent or too involved to get involved in their church. I first studied sport, then theology - and then realised how much I would have to travel for this job. At that point, I already had a family. So I changed my mind and worked as a youth pastor in two parishes for 15 years. I really enjoyed working with young people, helping them to develop their personality and find their way. But I always realised that I would have to stop at 40. My daughter would have been 15 by then and I didn't want to be my own children's youth pastor.

In the last years of my ministry, we had an agile training programme at the church with the aim of developing a new vision for our congregation. I happened to have the role of Scrum Master in the project and I realised super quickly the connection between this task and my job as a pastor, even though I had no IT background. As I was now looking for a new career direction, I took some time to think about the next steps. And one morning I woke up and said to my wife: 'Honey, the most pastoral thing I can imagine in the private sector is the job of Scrum Master' .

I attended training courses, gained certificates, got to know a lot of people and then applied for suitable jobs in my professional networks: 'Hello, I'm a pastor, I know agility from the church, I'm now venturing into IT'. The first response came after 20 minutes.

I must have had a total of 30 interviews because people found me so exotic. Some said: 'We can't offer you the job, but we want to get to know you because we find your move from pastor to Scrum Master so exciting.' I talked to them a lot about values in agility. About trust, transparency, courage, support, empathy, listening, being there for others... My guiding principle in these interviews was: 'If I can support people in taking even one step in their development, then that makes me happy. Then I have the confidence to become a Scrum Master, even if I still have a lot to learn about IT

At REWE digital, we don't call ourselves Scrum Masters, but Agile Team Coaches. This perhaps better illustrates my role: I am someone who supports a team in agile processes and ensures the team's ability to deliver. The processes, the communication and the relationship with each other have to be in harmony so that we can deliver an app or a feature on time. We Agile Team Coaches are there for this harmony. I am lubricating oil and tarmac in one. I am successful when I help the team to learn. That is perhaps my greatest asset: I'm good with people.

This is where my years of church work come in handy. Another thing we have in common: REWE Group lives its values and visions, and I can contribute my values here. Another binding factor is that I can combine work and family life well here for the first time. Unlike when I was a pastor, I now have regular working hours. I have weekends, time for family, friends, hobbies and going camping. That's a big gain for me. Conversely, my new employer gets my experience for free, so to speak.

Career changers bring a lot of experience with them. Experience from a different professional field, experience from many years of life, whether communication skills, flexibility, motivation or passion for something. This valuable treasure trove of experience is my soft skills, which I have developed over the years. These soft skills are important. I can learn everything else."