Why Career and Family
are not a contradiction
“I didn’t have to choose between having a child and my career.”
Career and Family at SOCITAS
Building a career while starting a family - for many, this still means the end of their career prospects. Women and men who take parental leave are often not considered for leadership positions.
At SOCITAS, we are convinced that: A career and family are not mutually exclusive.
On the contrary - modern leadership thrives on trust, openness, and tailored solutions.
In this interview, our marketing team leader, Marie-Christin, talks about her journey to a leadership role. Her story illustrates how work-life balance is put into practice at SOCITAS.
Rethinking Leadership
At SOCITAS, we take a different approach to leadership.
You can find out what matters most to us in the following interview we conducted with our marketing team leader.
For us, leadership means:
- Taking responsibility, regardless of age
- Enable growth instead of hindering career paths
- Balancing family and work
Personal Development at SOCITAS: Career Paths that fit your Life
Marie-Christin is 31 years old today, has been part of SOCITAS for five years, and is a marketing team leader. Her professional journey vividly demonstrates how individual career development works at our company - not based on a rigid plan, but guided by strengths, motivation, and personal life circumstances.
Her career path was not necessarily a conventional one. After completing ninth grade, Marie-Christin consciously chose to pursue vocational training while simultaneously earning her advanced technical college entrance qualification. It was a path that suited her perfectly. Early on, she took on responsibility, gained hands-on experience, and consistently pursued her goal of personal and professional growth. This journey eventually led her from the Fachabitur to university studies.
During her studies, she worked as a student intern in corporate communications. This early hands-on experience helped her refine her professional profile, take on responsibility and leverage her strengths effectively. The combination of theory, practical experience, and initiative laid the foundation for her start at SOCITAS and for everything that followed.
This is exactly how we see career development at SOCITAS:
…not as a predetermined path, but as an individual process. For us, diverse educational and career backgrounds are not a disadvantage, but a strength. What matters is not where someone starts, but how they take on responsibility and actively shape their own development.
We create an environment where employees can contribute, expand, and further develop their skills - regardless of how their career began or which stage of life they are currently in. This creates opportunities that are sustainable in the long term - both professionally and personally.
A career start with opportunities for growth: Responsibility from the very beginning
After completing her master’s degree, Marie-Christin specifically sought a position in corporate communications. SOCITAS’s job posting for an Online Marketing Manager appealed to her - not so much because of the specific job description, but because of the obvious potential for growth, the company itself, and its proximity to her location. During the interview, it quickly became clear that SOCITAS’s marketing department was still in its early stages at that time. Individual initiatives already existed, but without fixed structures, clear processes, or an overarching strategy. Therefore, the company was not looking for operational support within an existing system, but rather for someone willing to take on responsibility and actively help shape the department.
This is precisely where a core principle of SOCITAS lies. Anyone who wants to take on responsibility is given the opportunity to do so.
Taking on responsibility in a growing company
When she joined the company, Marie-Christin entered a phase in which personal responsibility and creative freedom played a central role. Marketing initiatives could be prioritized, refined, and professionalized. Decisions were made collaboratively, while there was a high level of trust in professional judgment and working methods.
Especially in a growing IT company like SOCITAS, requirements are constantly changing. New challenges arise, structures evolve, and responsibilities must be redefined. Instead of relying on rigid guidelines, we consciously create an environment where employees can take on responsibility and actively shape their roles.
Step by step, marketing evolved from individual tasks into an integral part of corporate communications.
Enabling growth rather than rigid roles
We view a career as an ongoing processthat focuses on people rather than rigid roles. This approach lays the foundation for sustainable growth - all the way to assuming leadership responsibilities.
The Move into a Leadership Role
SOCITAS is focused on growth. This is also evident in the marketing department. The team was set to expand, so the position of team lead needed to be filled.
The moment Marie-Christin received the offer to become team lead coincided with a period of major personal change. Shortly after the interview, it became clear: she was pregnant. Two significant events coincided - leadership responsibilities and family planning. At SOCITAS, openness is a central component of the corporate culture. That is why Marie-Christin decided early on to have an open conversation. The management’s reaction was clear: the pregnancy did not change either the trust placed in her or the offer to become team lead. Leadership, maternity leave, parental leave, and a subsequent return to work on a part-time basis were discussed together - clearly, respectfully, and with a focus on finding solutions.
This approach is a given for us at SOCITAS. A career path does not end with a pregnancy, and professional development is not tied to life stages.
Flexibility requires Commitment
Modern work-life balance only works if it aligns with the company’s needs. At SOCITAS, we always view flexibility in conjunction with responsibility, reliability, and our commitment to supporting our projects and clients to the best of our ability.
At SOCITAS, flexible work models aren’t developed in isolation from day-to-day business operations, but through dialogue: What does the company need? What do employees need? And how can we sustainably combine the two?
Marie-Christin’s story exemplifies what we stand for at SOCITAS: a work culture where career and family are not an either/or but are considered together.
Pregnancy, parental leave, or part-time work are not gaps in our resumes but part of modern work models. Those who work at SOCITAS do not have to choose between professional success and personal happiness. For us, work-life balance doesn’t mean that everything is possible at all times. It means finding solutions together that fit both our employees’ lives and the demands of a growing IT company. Those who choose SOCITAS choose an employer that builds trust, fosters growth, and rethinks leadership. It is precisely this synergy that makes work-life balance a reality for us.
