Eleven young people have started an apprenticeship at Stadtwerke Gießen. As usual, they received a detailed introduction - modified for the coronavirus, of course.
Once again this year, eleven young people are embarking on a promising career at Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG). Two have chosen the profession of IT specialist for system integration. Three of the newcomers are training to become electronics technicians for operating technology. Another two young men are aiming to become plant mechanics specialising in plant construction, maintenance and pipe system technology.
and pipe systems technology. Two prospective pool attendants, a future industrial clerk and a future professional lorry driver complete the team. The latter is moving to the subsidiary MIT.BUS for the second part of his training.
Trainee start week despite corona
As usual, SWG welcomed its new trainees with the trainee start week, which began with a warm welcome from Matthias Funk, the Technical Director of SWG. "Although we provide the framework, we now largely leave the organisation of the event to the trainees in their final year of training," explains Ruth Biehl-Franze. The SWG trainer developed the programme together with her colleague Claudia Grünbein and has been constantly updating it since 2006. This year, of course, there were noticeable changes to the programme. "We had to adapt some tried-and-tested activities or even cancel them completely," adds Ruth Biehl-Franze. For example, the reception with parents and the joint breakfast fell victim to the coronavirus. "The current hygiene rules didn't allow this," the trainer continues.
SWG is pursuing an important goal with the trainee start week: to show the newcomers as much as possible so that they feel confident in their new, unfamiliar environment right from the start. Of course, this includes a rally around the factory premises to give them an initial overview of the area. However, it is at least as important to impart knowledge about the organisation. Who does what in the SWG Group? How do I keep my training record? What rights and obligations do I have? These and many other questions were answered over the course of the week. The novices also gained an initial insight into SWG's strategy.
Visits to the small SWG museum, the natural gas sphere, the middle zone tank on the B49 and the Queckborn waterworks brought an exciting and informative first week of work to a close for the eleven new SWG trainees. During this time, the trainers at Stadtwerke Gießen laid the foundations for an optimum start to their careers. If everything goes as planned, the eleven young people will take their exams in three to three and a half years - depending on the training programme. And it would be nothing out of the ordinary if one or two of them were to perform exceptionally well again. After all, training is a top priority at SWG. Consequently, the trainers look after the graduates the entire time and act as contact persons or sometimes even as confidants. This good atmosphere not only leads to outstanding examination results, but also ensures an extremely low drop-out rate.