Having practical experience makes planning a career easier

(03/2001) The Brose scholarship holders of the Fachhochschule Coburg mastered their first practical tests with great skill. This was the conclusion of their supervisor Klemens Linke from Brose’s human resources department at the end of this lecture-free period, which six out of ten scholarship holders used for an internship, lasting a few weeks at the Brose locations of Coburg and Hallstadt.

From the first day onwards, the prospective mechanical and electrical engineers were entrusted with specially chosen project tasks. They worked in core departments of the corporate group, for example, in the prototype department for door systems and seat adjustments as well as in the maintenance area for production facilities. Linke says: “The cooperation between design engineers and those working on the practical side is closest during the development of the product”. Brose attaches great importance to giving special practice-oriented tasks to these students with scholarships.

Scholarships are a new initiative of the corporate group to encourage and support prospective engineers. For the first time in the winter semester of 2000/2001 Brose made almost a quarter of a million marks available as direct financial support for selected students, beginning their studies in mechanical or electrical engineering at the Fachhochschule in Coburg. The program is designed to make it easier for performance-oriented technologically minded young men and women to plan and prepare their career, by having direct contact to the practical side in a technological company operating internationally.

Criteria for selecting the applicants between 18 and 20 years of age include their determination to perform well, their ability to be integrated and work in a team, their communication skills and openness as well as the amount of practical work experience they have had. Apart from receiving monthly support for the whole period of their studies, the students are also extensively supervised and can acquire further qualifications next to their studies, by going on foreign work placements or doing their diploma thesis in the corporate group.