From trainees, for students

Four trainees help students with tips for applying

Taking the first step on a career path is no easy task; for many students, applying for a job is new terri­tory. “In many cases, schools convey this knowl­edge in the form of a rough outline only,” says Nico Kiesel. He is part of the ebm-papst project “Trainees help students,” which is intended to close this knowl­edge gap. The four-person project team also includes his colleagues Anja Hert­erich, Myriam Wagner and Simone Amann. Since September 2010 the four trainees have volun­teered their services, offering job appli­ca­tion training sessions in secondary schools, busi­ness schools and college prepara­tory schools. Already 200 students in towns from Künzelsau to Schrozberg have gotten valu­able appli­ca­tion tips from this training.

The three training steps are geared towards helping “young people address their profes­sional future inde­pen­dently and actively,” says Bernd Ludwig, Training Manager in Mulfingen, of the objec­tive of the project – and he hopes that this support will bring in more appli­ca­tions. Part one of the training: to write a good appli­ca­tion, to score highly on the appli­cant test and to be convincing in the job inter­view – with some prac­tise, the teenagers are quickly able to do much better. The minimal age differ­ence with the supporting trainees promotes easy dialogue: “We have tried to make this as casual as possible,” says Amann, trainee for Indus­trial Busi­ness Manage­ment with the addi­tional qual­i­fi­ca­tion of Inter­na­tional Busi­ness Manage­ment, reporting on the appli­cants’ training at the secondary school in Krautheim. At the start of the job appli­ca­tion training, her colleague Hert­erich advises young people to leave behind a good first impres­sion: “The appli­ca­tion port­folio is your sales brochure –use it to show that you are the right person for the training posi­tion.” There­fore the project team gave the 36 students valu­able tips for how they could commend them­selves with their cover letter and CV. Once this hurdle is past, the appli­cant test is next. Using a test they composed them­selves, the trainees quizzed students at the secondary school in Nieder­stetten about typical prob­lems dealing with general educa­tion, ability to think spatially, German and math­e­matics. The last step: the job inter­view. “We talked about what we ourselves expe­ri­enced,” relates Myriam Wagner. Of course there were also good tips: “Simply be your­self; don’t act” and “Present your­self posi­tively.” The students were able to put this into prac­tise right away by role-playing. They also prac­tised keeping eye contact and the right strength in a hand­shake when greeting. Then just add the right clothing and the appli­ca­tion will be a success. With that, the after­noon in Krautheim drew to a close, and all were excited.

Really quite prac­tical

The students also make inten­sive use of the second part of the project: During an after­noon at ebm-papst they get to know the company, expe­ri­ence voca­tional training programs of their choice in real-world appli­ca­tions and thereby gather their first work expe­ri­ence. Now that they are equipped with good tips for applying, that could soon become an exciting part of their everyday life.