Straight to assembly abroad after your apprenticeship?

Medebach. The start to life as a journeyman? It was anything but boring for Manuel Berkenkopf over the past few weeks and a purposely chosen dive into the deep end. With his certificate in his hands after successfully completing his final exams, the precision machinist specializing in mechanical engineering went straight to Slovakia for an assembly job at his own request. An exciting challenge for the newly qualified specialist from Paul Köster GmbH. And a perfect opportunity to gain his first experience as a journeyman commissioning a machine directly at the customer's site. He did not miss this opportunity.

Trio successfully complete their training as precision mechanics

The 20-year-old from Hesborn is not the only former apprentice to be taken on after his 3.5-year apprenticeship as a precision machinist. Gabriele Montagnino and Marvin Rudas also joined the Köster team at the beginning of February as journeymen in final assembly after successfully passing their exams. This shows the diversity of the areas of application in the company. Whether fixture construction, commissioning, final assembly or service - many doors and departments are open to the young precision machinists at the special mechanical engineering company.

"The fact that you can go on an assembly trip abroad straight after the exam is a great opportunity to show what you have learned. Of course, it helps that there is no training workshop at Köster and that we work on real projects straight away during our training. This makes the apprenticeship incredibly varied," says the Sauerland native. An experience he would not want to miss. After all, it makes a difference whether you pick up the tools as an apprentice or a journeyman. "You're expected to solve tasks independently and not ask as many questions as you did during your apprenticeship. And if there are any questions, then of course your colleagues continue to help. That gives a lot of security."

First contact at the apprenticeship fair in Medebach

Manuel Berkenkopf started his professional career in a very traditional way. Back in his secondary school days, he made his way to the apprenticeship fair in Medebach to find out about the range of opportunities at an early stage. It was clear that his future job should be in the craft sector. "I like screwing on mopeds and cars privately. The desk is not for me. I had also already completed a school internship in mechanical engineering, which I really enjoyed," says the Hesborn native. Now he also screws things together professionally, working on highly complex machines in the Paul Köster GmbH workshop. Setting up, installing and commissioning the machines directly at the customer's premises and, in the future, also customer training.

So it's no wonder that the Paul Köster GmbH information booth aroused his interest. "It really appealed to me to work on such large, technically demanding special machines and then even have the opportunity to see a little of the world when the machines are transported to the customers and set up there. So I applied straight after leaving secondary school." With success, shortly afterwards he had an interview and was accepted. Given Manuel Berkenkopf's performance, being taken on by Paul Köster GmbH after his apprenticeship was a mere formality. "Of course, the guarantee of employment with the right qualifications is a great argument for starting and continuing your career at Paul Köster GmbH," says Manuel Berkenkopf. He has certainly not regretted his decision and is looking forward to his professional future in Medebach.

Versatility of tasks is a big plus

"I would like to stay in the Sauerland region and see myself working at Paul Köster GmbH in the long term." The young specialist will also definitely be going back to assembly. "Test operation here in Medebach is one thing, but it's really impressive to see the special machine really step on the gas on site at the customer's premises and deliver its full performance. Then you know that the months of work on the machine have paid off. For me, this combination of working in my own company and sometimes traveling to the customer is just right." So it remains exciting even after jumping in at the deep end as a journeyman.