01. Aug 2019
In the past decade, the Paul Köster company has hired 83 trainees as employees
Medebach. Some numbers just speak for themselves: Over the past ten years, 83 young men and women have successfully completed vocational training for a variety of jobs, from business administration to technical areas, at Medebach-based company Paul Köster. With a post-traineeship hiring rate of 100%, the globally active machine manufacturer is a trendsetter and record-breaker when it comes to employee development. In recent weeks, four new trainees celebrated the successful conclusion of their respective training programs: Helena Schröder and Christin Padberg (both in office administration), Yannick Noah Knecht (in technical product design), and Michael Hammecke (in metal cutting). Another trainee, Andreas Schnellen, completed his dual-track mechanical engineering program and will also be joining the Köster team.
Practical vocational training takes top priority
Successfully completing a vocational training program or dual-track training and study degree is both a major life milestone and an excellent foundation for one’s future professional career. Ultimately, all of the company’s former trainees (and mechanical engineering student Andreas Schnellen) ended up signing their very first employment contracts with Paul Köster. “Just as in years past, we are very proud of our highly accomplished graduates and are excited that all of them have chosen to join our company and contribute to its success over the long term,” Hildegard Köster remarks. That 100% hiring rate speaks to the high quality of Paul Köster’s training programs. “We have made a conscious decision to make practice-oriented vocational training a priority. In other words, we don’t have a separate training workshop. Our trainees are involved in the practical aspects of their respective training track from day one, learning straight away how to work with products in a solution-oriented, quality-aware and responsible way. This is also our way of charting the course of the company through the early training of potential future employees.” According to Hildegard Köster, the positive experience of the day-to-day job as reported by former trainees is proof that “this is a very effective approach.” The concept also includes dual-track academic/vocational degree programs and internships, all of which serve to generate enthusiasm amongst the next generation of employees. Correspondingly, Jacqueline Dotterer began a full-year internship on August 1 in administration, where she will garner plenty of useful professional experience and get a sense of what it’s like to work “behind the scenes.”
Starting traineeships at Paul Köster GmbH
Concurrently, ten young adults also started their traineeships at Paul Köster GmbH on August 1. “We’re very happy to see that Anna Ricken, a university student, will be starting her dual-track program in mechanical engineering alongside our nine new vocational trainees,” says Hildegard Köster, head of HR. Even today, women still tend to be the exception and not the rule in technical fields. It can’t be denied that female applicants for technical jobs have traditionally been few and far between – but the Medebach-based company wants to change that. The company’s vocational training programs in technical trades, not to mention the dual-track academic/vocational degree programs in mechanical and electrical engineering, are very appealing to women interested in pursuing careers in such fields. “We invite any young woman who’s interested in exploring a career in a technical field to learn more about the attractive and varied professional opportunities our company offers women. The important thing is to take advantage of the opportunities our industry and our company have to offer,” Köster adds.
Mentors, meet-and-greet day, tour of the facility, break for ice cream and French fries
Paul Köster’s excellent reputation around the world is thus not limited to its expertise as a machine manufacturer tailoring its vertical range of products to customers’ individual needs – the company’s vocational training approach has also set benchmarks for secondary school graduates throughout the region. The nine new trainees (Justin Schnurbusch in metal cutting; Luca Kuhnhenne and Markus Klüppel in electrical engineering; Leon Ittermann, Philipp Klein, Jannis Pröpper, Henrik Schäfer and Benedikt Stahlschmidt in precision machining; Nils Thiele in office administration; and Robin Kleine in technical product design) and Anna Ricken, the dual-track mechanical engineering student, began their journey into the professional world on August 1 under the guidance of mentors who had gone through the same training or degree programs with Paul Köster in the past. These mentors help answer any questions the trainees may have about their respective programs. And the first day wasn’t just a chance to get to know each other better – it also included a tour of the various facilities and an excursion to Medebach. “It’s important to us for our new colleagues to feel comfortable here and supported by the company. And knowing where to find the best currywurst or ice cream in Medebach is part of that,” Köster notes. After all, this introduction to Paul Köster will soon be followed by hard work in the various technical or administrative departments.