A team player uses her opportunities to good advantage

With a population of more than 20 million, Shanghai, the “Pearl of the Orient,” is one of the world’s largest cities. The city’s name, which translates as “up to the sea,” was in all likelihood bestowed upon it by simple fisherman. The first recorded mention of the original settlement dates back to the tenth century. Since the 1980s, the city has been experiencing an economic boom and for this reason exerts a powerful draw on millions of Chinese. One of them is Jing Han, who moved to Shanghai in 1998 to study mechanical engineering and immediately fell in love with the city.

“I had always dreamed of living in Shanghai someday. The city simply has so much to offer, and it is the economic center of China. Why did I want to study mechanical engineering? My father was an engineer, too, and he may have influenced me at a very early age. But I’ve always had an affinity for the natural sciences, and I simply wanted to know how machines are built.”

Why BENTELER?

Jing Han took the plunge into a wholly different culture in 2003, the year she moved to Germany and enrolled at the University of Hannover, where she earned a master’s degree. In 2005 she was given the opportunity to participate in BENTELER’s Technical Trainee Program in Paderborn. After two more years in Paderborn she was offered the prospect of employment by BENTELER in Shanghai. Everything worked out as planned, and she returned, full of unforgettable impressions, to her adoptive city.

“In the automotive industry especially, Germany offers solid and high-quality training. I would advise anyone who is offered an opportunity such as the trainee program and BENTELER to grab it. I was extremely well prepared for my job, and my international employment left me with a wealth of valuable experience.”

Now in her mid-30s, Han is Customer Line Manager at BENTELER Automotive Shanghai, where she is responsible for around 10 employees. Her team works to improve the company’s customer focus so that products are brought to the customer faster, more efficiently, and with greater flexibility.

Reconciling the demands of family life and holding her own

The mother of two has been highly successful in balancing the demands of job and family. She enjoys the support of her parents and parents-in-law, who are only too glad to look after her children. She has managed to hold her own as a woman in an industry that is heavily dominated by men. She is quick to shoulder responsibility, and a certain confidence in her abilities motivates her in her work.

“As a woman you have to know what you are capable of and come across as self-assured. I am also someone who knows how to say “no.” More and more employers are waking up to the fact that mixed teams work much better, because their members complement one another to greater effect. In my view, however, what counts at the end of the day is not the sex of the manager but what she or he can do and how she or he leads.”

Apart from her job and her family life, Han tries to make time now and then for her favorite hobby, badminton. Since she enjoys working as part of a team at work, it is only natural that values such as trust and reliability are also reflected in her hobby. “Live in the here and now” is clearly her motto, and she clearly knows how to enjoy the moment. What good does it do to spend today worrying about what might happen tomorrow?