“If you find something fascinating, you also find it easier to learn.”

From technical roles and commercial careers to dual study programs. From PackSys Global in Switzerland to Brückner in Siegsdorf and Kiefel in Freilassing: The team of young talent at the Brückner Group currently consists of 114 trainees (as of December 2024).

This is the winning formula when taking the first career steps: Nurture individual talents, teach key professional skills, strengthen personalities – and simply have a good time together. This lays the optimal foundations for developing new sustainable solutions for the plastics and packaging industry. 

Even in high school, Maik, 22, knew that he would choose a technical profession, ultimately opting for a combined study program at Kiefeler. This has given him the opportunity to do his vocational training as an automation engineer at the company, while also studying at Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences. So, what drives Maik? His interest in electronics. “If you find something fascinating, you also find it easier to learn.”

The biggest benefit for Maik is the good relationship within the team: “If I do something wrong – which is quite normal when you’re still learning – then I just go to my trainer and we work together to see how we can put it right.” 

Various technical aspects of the job can first be practiced in Kiefel’s modern training environment, such as working on simple installation circuits, wiring a control box, or undertaking basic motor control and programming tasks. Later on, apprentices are also given the chance to work in the real production environment. “Then we start assembling the control cabinets for the machines, among other things.” 

When a large system is completed and commissioned for the first time, it always produces goose bumps. “Some of these systems are built across several production lines and take up an entire hall,” says Maik enthusiastically. “When you then see how the individual parts move and how the whole manufacturing process works … I was still thinking about it when I drove home from work that afternoon.”

And Maik shows no signs of losing this fascination. He can very well imagine writing his bachelor’s thesis on the subject of control technology and then continuing on his career path at Kiefel. As an engineer specializing in electronic hardware development or commissioning, for example, or in automation or control technology. As a further incentive, Maik could also study for his master’s degree through Kiefel’s funding program.  

Lena has a clear idea of her work and explains it with enthusiasm: “The things I draw are ultimately turned into reality.” As a technical product designer, she mainly works with the CAD program – a technology that can be used to render products in 2D and 3D. “We design systems and produce the models and technical drawings so that the components can later be manufactured and assembled on the basis of our template,” she adds. 

For Lena, her job is the perfect combination of creative work and technical understanding. “Mathematical skills are also an advantage because we have to do a lot of calculations at vocational school.”

For technical product designers, this means that they are mainly working on practice assemblies in the first year of their apprenticeship, initially designing components and assemblies for a vice or sometimes a Ferris wheel so that they can really familiarize themselves with the CAD program.

Starting in the second year of training, the apprentices can put everything they have learned into practice and expand on their knowledge by working in the various specialist departments. After all, this is where the components for real machines are designed. “These assemblies have 20,000 components,” she describes impressively. Time spent at Brückner Maschinenbau’s technology center in Siegsdorf also affords interesting insights: “We get to look over the shoulders of the research teams and see how the components undergo various tests – that is extremely fascinating!”

For Lena, 21, the soft skills she is learning as part of her apprenticeship are equally as important as the technical skills. Her ambition and capacity for self-reflection are well received.

What will Lena’s next career move be after her apprenticeship at Brückner Maschinenbau? She already has an idea: 

This is how the career aspirations of 18-year-old Icaro from Switzerland could be best summed up. After spending a taster day as a commercial assistant, he was certain: “I like the working atmosphere. There are no strict hierarchies here, everyone is on first-name terms, so I felt at home right away.”

What skills do you need for a commercial career?
Languages are definitely an important skill for Icaro in his line of work. “After all, we are always dealing with international customers. I myself speak German, English, and Portuguese,” says Icaro.  And he has a tip for any young person who also wishes to apply to a company like PackSys Global: 

He feels this sense of togetherness not only on a day-to-day basis at work, but also on various excursions – in the truest sense of the word. That’s because the apprentices once went skydiving in Winterthur together with their vocational trainers and the management team: “That feeling of floating in the air was just sensational.”

“At PackSys Global, you don’t have to stubbornly follow a curriculum. There is also the opportunity to act on your own ideas. At my suggestion, for instance, we organized the training plan in a way that allowed future apprentices to spend six months instead of four in the marketing department – simply because this field of work is so varied and interesting.” PackSys Global also supports its apprentices by offering them various benefits: 

His time spent thus far at PackSys Global has made a lasting impression on Icaro. And what’s the next step once he has completed his apprenticeship? “I could well imagine even becoming a vocational trainer myself one day and supporting other young people as they embark on their careers.”