Sophie

I became aware of the Global Graduate Program through a job advertisement. What appealed to me was the possibility to gain a deep insight into the Group because you work at different locations and in different areas. Over time, you have the opportunity to build up a large network, which is extremely valuable for your future career. The selection day really convinced me. The top management of the Schunk Group played a key role in the interviews. This showed me that the success of the programme is important to the management.

I started in technical project management at Weiss Umwelttechnik at the Reiskirchen-Lindenstruth site in Germany. There I redesigned a process description and programmed a project management tool. During my second assignment, I also worked at Weiss Technik – at our site near Bordeaux in France. I was involved in optimising the factory layout. I am currently working in South Korea at Schunk Carbon Technology in Ansan (near Seoul). Here I am looking into improving production planning.

This post is a particular challenge for me because communication in Korea is not always easy and there are many cultural differences to Germany. I learnt a lot about Korean culture and adapted my way of working to the new situation. The regular training sessions with all trainees also help me here. Among other things, we learnt about intercultural communication.

In summary, what I particularly like about the programme is the diverse tasks and the international experience. The fact that I work on a new project every time I am deployed means that my work is highly varied and I learn something new every time. I was able to take on responsibility right from the start, and my work is a lot of fun.