I started with the AMS-Programme when I was joining EADS in January 2005 and moved immediately to Paris to spend my first assignment with EADS INTERNATIONAL where I worked closely with the Sales & Marketing team in France, but also several times onsite in Chile. Working intensively with German Officials in Berlin to support our export campaigns showed me the importance of Political Flanking. Coming from large industrial goods sales this turned out to be a new facet in international sales.
To improve my Spanish I had a chance to move to Madrid to gain first experiences with divisional work by joining the Spanish EUROCOPTER entity there. Being close to Helicopters was really an forward bringing experience…you should see and feel a "Super Puma" taking off!
EADS Corporate offered me to join the Political Affairs team in Berlin and Munich where I then spent my third assignment. This was new terrain for me and broadened my sales knowledge tremendeously. I prepared letters to ministries in Germany and all over the world, signed by our CEO's, and worked closely with the various ministries in Berlin and embassies around the world. Experience, that turned out to be vitally important for my job after AMS.
Finally, I joined EADS/DS in their newly built Line of Business, Global Security (GLS), that deals with Inner Security. There, I could bring in all I have learned and experienced before. Inner Security is a governmental business which GLS conducts all over the world. Hence my language and political affairs skills were highly appreciated.
Finally, all of this lead to very interesting job offers at the end of AMS. In the end I decided to stay with GLS and took over the Position as "Head of Sales Germany", leading as a Senior Manager a small sales team, which takes care of GLS business in Germany, but also of export campaigns spread all over the world.
Coming from American IT companies, the AMS Programme offered me a top level start in EADS. The programme is a real boost in getting to know the EADS group as such. The people met, the relations built and the experience gained in these two years were incredible. In combination with the various trainings course that are undertaken as well as further trainings possibilities such as language courses, the AMS Programme cleary made me a quantum leap forward in my career development.
Ludwig Eberle
German
Age 39, single
