Apprentices benefit from internship abroad

Hannah Lauenburg is an apprentice at a. hartrodt in Hamburg and had her first own project in Indonesia. She conducted a customer satisfaction survey at company locations in Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya. She carefully evaluated everything and presented the results. Back from her internship abroad, she reports: “The project made me more independent and self-confident. I'd never given a speech in English in front of 80 people before.”

Up to nine weeks abroad

At the nine German locations of a. hartrodt there are 60 apprentices, almost half of them female. Provided apprenticeships are Management Assistant for Freight Forwarding and Logistics Service, Management Assistant for Office Management and Computer Science Expert. In addition, a. hartrodt offers dual study programmes with a Bachelor's degree. “Every year we hire 20 apprentices, every fourth one can do an internship abroad with us,” says Martin Argendorf, Manager Human Resources at a. hartrodt in Hamburg.

Commercial apprentices have the opportunity to spend four to five weeks in Europe. Dual students like Hannah Lauenburg are allowed to do a worldwide internship for up to nine weeks. There is a choice of country organizations in 44 trading nations.

Funding from the Erasmus programme

Argendorf recommends an internship abroad in the second year of vocational training. The apprentices have to organize their travel and accommodation by themselves. The EU's Erasmus programme provides an average of 1,300 euros each for this purpose. “We support the apprentices with their application,” says Argendorf. If the internship takes place during the spring or autumn holidays, the apprentices are released from the vocational school for up to three weeks after the holidays.

“An internship abroad accelerates your career,” emphasizes the personnel officer. A good example is Matthias Pichler: At the age of 25 he became Managing Director Vietnam, at 29 General Manager Malaysia. During his dual studies he did an internship in Kuala Lumpur.

The management promotes international exchange with the aim of strengthening communication with foreign subsidiaries. “By the end of 2019 at the latest, a colleague from Indonesia will be coming to Hamburg,” says Hannah Lauenburg happily.


Further information about internships abroad:
https://hamburg.arbeitundleben.de/index.php?s=4&id=99&stufe=60&lang=de
https://hamburg.arbeitundleben.de/mobilitaetsagentur/auszubildende