Dr. Ralf Cramer

"Continental is a top company worldwide in driving safety and dynamics.”

How long have you worked at Continental?
Since 1996 

How did you come to join the company?
After having been with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for six years and earning a doctorate, I received an offer from Continental (formerly ITT Teves) – and immediately accepted it.

What is a typical workday like for you? Is there such a thing?
A career can be planned only to a certain extent. The same is true for a single workday. The topics and tasks are simply too diverse. There is, nonetheless, a certain structure to my day, of course. As a rule, in the morning I first look through my e-mails and make a few phone calls. After that, meetings with customers, employees, colleagues and suppliers get underway.
I feel it is important to act and manage with a strong sense of responsibility. I assume responsibility myself and also delegate it to people I trust. However, this responsibility must, then, also be discharged. Targets should be defined and results delivered.The focus of my activity at the moment: As a company, we want to substantially and stably overcome the critical situation in which the car industry finds itself so as to be able to turn our attention to the next growth and to new challenges in new markets, hopefully already in 2010. Right now we have to sustain the necessary cost cutting and manage a balancing act, sticking to fantastic developments that are, however, not likely to bear fruit for a few years to come. Here we have to act entrepreneurially with a sense of vision.

Why should prospective employees choose Continental?
Worldwide, Continental is one of the major suppliers to the auto industry. At our company, you can actively contribute your ideas on exciting topics and innovations in a globally networked alliance of engineers, production locations, development centers and sales experts. With its six divisions, Continental also offers a very broad spectrum of different technologies and industrial areas. Continental offers unlimited possibilities for those interested in getting involved in the pursuit of safer, more sustainable and more intelligent mobility and wanting to play a role in shaping the future of this mobility. Time and again I am fascinated by the creativity, the technological know-how, the capacity for enthusiastically responding and the enormous and resolute commitment of our employees and teams. Allow me to add for my division, Chassis & Safety, that we are truly in the forefront of driving safety and driving dynamics. Here the very close involvement with technological partners in the automotive industry is quite exciting, especially for engineers.
The completely global setup is an advantage on top of all of that. In Asia, for instance, we are active in local growth markets in the same measure as we accompany the major European and North American automakers as they move ahead technologically.

Have you spent time abroad? How important do you consider such experience?
Experience abroad broadens one’s perspectives and is essential for a career at Continental. We make a point of supporting employees who want to tackle a challenge of this kind.
I myself have only had a three-month stint abroad. Looking back, I regret that my career did not develop somewhat differently in this regard. In any case, because of our global setup, with locations in Asia, America and Europe, I am now always on the go. The official corporate language at Continental is, by the way, English.

How do you strike a balance between work, free time and family?
My job takes up a lot of my time. I start at half past seven in the morning and seldom end my workday earlier than eight in the evening. So not much time is left during the week for private pursuits. I see to it, though, that I leave most weekends as free of professional engagements as possible.  Unwinding is, indeed, extremely important.

How do you spend your free time?
With my family, of course. Aside from that I try to work off steam with sports. And I like to do off-beat things with my family, like touring cities. Four days in Istanbul, for instance. What I like is getting caught up in a different world, with different people, different cultures, and all of that practically at my doorstep.

How do you envision your professional future at Continental?
Well, actually, as a member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and head of the Chassis & Safety division, I am quite satisfied.  I am responsible for a huge global network of motivated and capable employees. That is wonderful and makes me proud of what we accomplish together afresh at Continental every single day. We join forces in working on innovative products and continually define new priorities in the automotive industry. 

This is now the second year in which Continental has been the main sponsor of Formula Student Germany (FSG). How did you like the event?
I was extremely impressed by the event and would like Continental to continue their sponsorship for next year, too. The students gave an impressive performance and we had the opportunity to present Continental positively.

What is the company's interest in supporting the Formula Student Germany?
We highly appreciate the enthusiasm and commitment of the prospective engineers and would like to support them and, of course, we want to present ourselves as an attractive employer. I think that this year we were very successful in doing both and I am therefore certain that a large part of the students - at their universities - will speak in positive terms about our commitment here. 

What do you think? Will the students' chances of getting a job be better if they have participated in the Formula Student?
Participation in the Formula Student is definitely a big plus in your CV. In particular, the students learn how to work as a team – an experience that is of invaluable worth for their professional career later. And they show that they can really devote themselves to a cause, that they're full of drive.

Which skills do prospective engineers learn at the Formula Student Germany?
A Formula Student team consists of people with different qualities. Each is responsible for his or her area. To be able to get along with one another and to work together towards one goal – that is what I consider a very important learning experience. Furthermore, it's very close to reality. The students learn, for instance, to handle money. They must buy materials, look for sponsors and convince them. In principle, a Formula Student team functions like a corporation – but on a small scale. 

Especially the intercultural skills get trained in the FSG. How important are such skills for working at Continental?
We are an international corporation with locations in 35 countries. Intercultural skills are inevitably of vital significance here.

Some committed FSG students work 40 hours a week on their racing car – sometimes at the cost of their university studies. Do you place rather more importance on such practical experience or should students rather complete their studies quickly and get their practical experience in the company?
You can't generalize. I personally find experience gathered in the FSG very important. Nevertheless, I would only extend my studies by a maximum of two semesters. It is the same as in other aspects of life: you've got to get the balance right.

Be honest. Are you tempted to go for a couple of laps in one of the FS racing cars?
I certainly am and I'd go immediately! You'll find me in Frankfurt.