International assignments foster professional and personal skills
“It’s really unique to be offered a chance like this,” says Matthias Huppmann. Weeks after his return from the Mexican Brose plant in Querétaro, the future electronics specialist for plant equipment is still full of enthusiasm when he talks about his assignment abroad.
In summer 2007 he and six other apprentices spent seven weeks at international Brose locations. They not only improved their own professional skills, but also got to know the country and people, gaining much valuable personal experience.
“For a long time we’ve known that it isn’t enough merely to make apprentices proficient in their technical fields,” training manager Michael Stammberger emphasizes. Globally operating companies like Brose, according to Stammberger, also need people who are self-assured in international settings and have an open attitude towards other cultures. Professional competence and social intelligence are called for – on all levels. That’s what goes to making an up-to-date and successful training concept.
“Working together was great fun,” Matthias Huppmann recalls: “I was able to assist Mexican colleagues in the test center in performing hot and cold tests on window regulators. I was warmly received both at the factory and privately. I would do it again, any time, and I can only recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to work abroad that comes your way.”
Foreign assignments for apprentices have become a tradition at Brose: “We’ve been doing this for around ten years, though not on the scale that we’re doing it this year. In all, we have sent 15 apprentices and “Berufsakademie” students to eight locations this year – for example, to Coventry, Gothenburg, Detroit, Puebla and Shanghai,” reports trainer Sandra Schubarth.
As soon as the foreign plants determine their needs and communicate these to headquarters in Coburg, the young people can volunteer to take on an assignment.
In summer 2007 he and six other apprentices spent seven weeks at international Brose locations. They not only improved their own professional skills, but also got to know the country and people, gaining much valuable personal experience.
“For a long time we’ve known that it isn’t enough merely to make apprentices proficient in their technical fields,” training manager Michael Stammberger emphasizes. Globally operating companies like Brose, according to Stammberger, also need people who are self-assured in international settings and have an open attitude towards other cultures. Professional competence and social intelligence are called for – on all levels. That’s what goes to making an up-to-date and successful training concept.
“Working together was great fun,” Matthias Huppmann recalls: “I was able to assist Mexican colleagues in the test center in performing hot and cold tests on window regulators. I was warmly received both at the factory and privately. I would do it again, any time, and I can only recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to work abroad that comes your way.”
Foreign assignments for apprentices have become a tradition at Brose: “We’ve been doing this for around ten years, though not on the scale that we’re doing it this year. In all, we have sent 15 apprentices and “Berufsakademie” students to eight locations this year – for example, to Coventry, Gothenburg, Detroit, Puebla and Shanghai,” reports trainer Sandra Schubarth.
As soon as the foreign plants determine their needs and communicate these to headquarters in Coburg, the young people can volunteer to take on an assignment.
Brose apprentices Matthias Huppmann (left) and Mario Wernsdörfer got to know Mexico and its people on their extended weekend trips.
A stay abroad is only obligatory for industrial engineering students from the universities of cooperative education.
The apprentices are much in demand at Brose facilities, in particular because of their commitment and their great willingness to learn. Providing their training performance is acceptable and the assignment takes place when school is out, there is nothing to stand in the way of being deployed abroad.
“The Brose Academy covers travel expenses, while the host department organizes accommodation. Apprentices have a local personal contact assigned to them – the same as at home – who looks after them as they work through the departments and shows them the ropes during all training activities.”
Both Brose and the apprentices profit from international assignments. The company trains its own junior staff, which is professionally skilled and open to international cultures. The young people in turn become more self-confident in their professional life.
The apprentices are much in demand at Brose facilities, in particular because of their commitment and their great willingness to learn. Providing their training performance is acceptable and the assignment takes place when school is out, there is nothing to stand in the way of being deployed abroad.
“The Brose Academy covers travel expenses, while the host department organizes accommodation. Apprentices have a local personal contact assigned to them – the same as at home – who looks after them as they work through the departments and shows them the ropes during all training activities.”
Both Brose and the apprentices profit from international assignments. The company trains its own junior staff, which is professionally skilled and open to international cultures. The young people in turn become more self-confident in their professional life.
During her stay in the USA, Julia Dorsch took a four-day trip to New York; the photo shows the Manhattan Pier and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Technical product designer Lisa-Marie Knobloch describes the reasons why she applied for an assignment in Paris: “I dared to take this step to get to know new people, to discover different ways of life and work, and to find out how to deal with new challenges.”
Similar motives were decisive for Michael Schneider. The draftsman reports on his work in the innovation team in Sta. Magarida, Spain: “I wanted to get to know a different culture and broaden my language skills. I liked having to fend all for myself for a longer period.”
And Julia Dorsch, who worked in Detroit, USA, as a technical product designer, frankly admits: “I mastered my fear of new things. Experiencing what it means to have to stand on my own two feet has certainly helped shape my character.”
Similar motives were decisive for Michael Schneider. The draftsman reports on his work in the innovation team in Sta. Magarida, Spain: “I wanted to get to know a different culture and broaden my language skills. I liked having to fend all for myself for a longer period.”
And Julia Dorsch, who worked in Detroit, USA, as a technical product designer, frankly admits: “I mastered my fear of new things. Experiencing what it means to have to stand on my own two feet has certainly helped shape my character.”
