How a special kind of career fair introduces real questions about the professional world

How can artificial intelligence help to relieve overburdened courts? In the PwC workshop, this question is not an abstract topic for the future, but quickly becomes very practical for the students. In small groups, they collect problems in the German justice system, classify the causes and develop possible solutions. One of them: AI could help to prioritize court cases according to urgency and make analogue file processes more efficient.

The PwC workshop thus shows what characterizes zu|taten 2026: The professional world is not just discussed, but played out using concrete problems. This is precisely the added value of the student-organized career event at Zeppelin University: companies not only present themselves, but also allow students to participate in working methods, questions and decision-making processes.

The student initiative zu|taten has been bringing students, alumni and companies together in a structured setting for 16 years. The core program includes company presentations, workshops and job interviews, supplemented by short elevator pitches in the morning and a panel talk in the afternoon. However, the day does not function like a traditional careers fair, where companies broadcast and students listen. At zu|taten, encounters are created where both sides work together, ask questions and talk about specific career prospects.

This becomes particularly clear in the workshop run by PwC, a large auditing and consulting firm. Instead of a pure company presentation, the participants go through a consulting process themselves: understanding the problem, collecting causes, developing and evaluating ideas and finally presenting them in a one-minute pitch. PwC employees accompany the groups through the individual work phases.

The work is deliberately analog: with stickers, cards and notes on the glass. This makes it possible to see how a common approach gradually emerges from the many individual ideas. First ideas are collected, then organized, then prioritized. The ideas are evaluated according to how innovative and feasible they are, among other things.

It is no coincidence that several groups end up with similar solutions, such as the use of AI to prioritize court cases. It shows which trend is also shaping this career format: many current labour market issues revolve around digitalization, efficiency and the use of artificial intelligence.

The range of companies represented at this year's zu|taten event on ZU's ZF Campus also fits in with this. PwC and EY are major auditing and consulting firms, Capgemini Invent brings the perspective of a strategy and transformation consultancy, zeb focuses on management and IT consulting for financial service providers. In addition, there are more specialized players such as Brunswick as a strategic communications consultancy, DauHerkert as a digital agency, Bansbach as an auditing and tax consultancy and Wochner/Partner as a management consultancy. ZEPPELIN GmbH, a large, regionally based company from Friedrichshafen, will also be represented. It is precisely this mix that makes the day suitable for different interests and disciplines.

While the workshop shows how the professional world works in practice, the panel talk afterwards makes it clear how different the paths there can be. On stage will be Volker Mayer-Lay, Member of the Bundestag from Überlingen, Olivia Haller from the family business Haller Raumgestaltung and ZU alumnus Linus Holzmann, founder of HML Capital AG. Due to the different career paths of the guests, the talk does not offer a standardized model for success in professional life. Instead, there will be an exchange on how to make career decisions - and how much openness, courage and development are required.

Olivia Haller describes her entry into the family business not as a long-established plan, but as a process that began with a "six-month project" and then gradually intensified. ZU alumnus Linus Holzmann speaks similarly openly about his start-up: not so much as a linear master plan, but as a path that requires agility, adaptability and the willingness to try things out.

Volker Mayer-Lay also relies on development rather than fixed plans. He advocates building up a stable foundation with training, professional experience and additional qualifications and continuing to learn and develop. His attitude is: "If your goals don't scare you, they're not big enough." The appeal behind this is clear: accept challenges, be courageous and don't see failure as a flaw.

Moderator Michelle Bleichner, ZU student and Head of Acquisition in this year's zu|taten team, repeatedly brings in the students' perspective and asks the guests for tips - especially in the area of networking. Haller has pleasantly specific recommendations: scan the room first, start small, approach one person, prepare a short pitch and, above all, don't wait for the perfect moment. Fittingly, the day ends with a bar evening where this exchange can continue.