A police trainee and a psychiatrist started a new career at PENNY. With this professional experience behind them, little can shake the current store manager and district manager. The conclusion of the two career changers: all professions have to do with people - and you can also manage in shifts. But the customers at PENNY are easier to deal with and the working hours are more regular.
Robin Schaub - From police officer to district manager
Robin Schaub, district manager at PENNY in the south-west region, is a good example of how a professional reorientation can often lead to fulfilling new career paths. Schaub originally began his professional career with an apprenticeship in the middle ranks of the police force, but health problems, combined with a total of four knee operations within a year, made it impossible to continue this career.
Robin was forced to look for a new perspective. On the recommendation of his older brother, who was a store manager at PENNY at the time and now also works as a district manager, the former police officer applied for a dual study programme at PENNY and began a journey that has kept him with the company since 2015. From 2015 to 2018, he gained experience as a dual student in four sales areas before taking over responsibility for the Offenburg area at the end of 2018. He still manages nine branches there with great dedication and is responsible for around 120 employees - a task that gives him personal growth and professional fulfilment.
The move from the police force to PENNY naturally brought changes with it. Meeting different people is at the heart of both professions. But at PENNY, Robin finds the encounters with customers much more pleasant: "The customers at the police station were sometimes much less friendly". Nevertheless, Robin Schaub owes his great strength to his years in the police force: his ability to deal with people.
Schaub also finds the working conditions at PENNY more favourable: no night or Sunday work and the certainty of getting home safely. "And I can work more freely and flexibly here." Another plus point: Schaub appreciates the positive working atmosphere and the "great team around me". He couldn't imagine going back at the moment: "I'm very happy at PENNY".
As a career changer, former police officer Robin Schaub brings a fresh perspective and a unique set of skills. Thanks to his wealth of experience as a police officer, he takes a "slightly more relaxed" approach to some problems and challenges in the market. A perspective that benefits everyone: employees and customers.
Andreas Wolf: From the clinic to the discounter
Andreas Wolf, PENNY store manager in Offenburg/Rammersweier, epitomises the courage and determination that lead many people to embark on completely new career paths.
With a solid background in healthcare, including two state examinations as a curative educator and as a carer, Andreas Wolf worked for over a decade in a demanding environment: most recently on an interdisciplinary closed neurological and psychiatric ward. The high pressure and challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic eventually led Andreas to seek a change of scenery and say goodbye to a system he could no longer identify with.
Having already worked as a temporary employee at PENNY since 2015, he decided - motivated by the contact with his district manager - to switch to the food retail sector for good. He has now been a store manager since January 2023. Compared to his work in the clinic, "the responsibility is in the foreground, even if in different ways. You also have to deal with people all the time." The big difference, however, is the type of contact: In retail, he can maintain a professional closeness and distance to work and to people, which was not always possible in everyday hospital life.
He was not completely unfamiliar with the role of store manager beforehand, as he had already taken on deputy duties as a temporary employee. Nevertheless, the transition to the management position was a challenge that he had to grow into. What Andreas Wolf appreciates about working at PENNY is the better duty planning, the regular working hours and the freedom of not having to work on Sundays and public holidays. This gives him a better work-life balance.
He has no regrets about his new career start: "I really like my new position and I feel very comfortable in my team." Wolf also recognises the benefits of a career change for the employer: Courage and a willingness to change, adaptability and a willingness to learn, from which both sides - employer and employee - benefit. His many years of professional experience in the healthcare sector also give him a unique perspective and a special sensitivity when dealing with people and the challenges of everyday life.