Students who want to improve their professional prospects and gather new experiences can spend a term abroad. Apprentices, however, will only ever switch back and forth between vocational school and company. I can remember vividly that until the nineties this arrangement has been entirely normal. Emphasis being put on “has been”. Did you know that in the year 2017 already more than 30,000 youths have collected valuable work experience outside of Germany during their vocational training? Neither did I – that is, until we began research for our new webcast for the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB).
As you will see, it is not only apprentices who profit from a stay abroad, but also businesses. For during their time abroad, the young people not only strengthen their professional expertise, but also their personal skills. They improve their knowledge of foreign languages, get to know the daily work routine in an unfamiliar setting and establish contacts with the country and its people. This pays off for your company: after their stay abroad, apprentices are much more professionally adept, more independent and more able to work in a team. This is a great opportunity to lay out the vocational training in a more modern fashion, especially considering the background of increasing globalisation.
But what is it that an employer actually has to do if he or she wants apprentices, as well as businesses, to profit optimally from a stay abroad? As our film for the BIBB shows: quite a bit! You will see how Krone, a manufacturer of farming machinery based in Spelle, prepares its apprentice Sieghard von Alvensleben for the trip – both professionally and organisationally. We will also address funding programmes such as Erasmus+. But why don’t you see for yourself?
Video (German only): Als Azubi nach Irland: Auslandsaufenthalte realisieren
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