Together with the Chamber of Commerce and kronehit, the “Krone” has stimulated the talent turbo with the campaign “Student seeks apprentice” and had hundreds of students present their company via video. After the online vote at krone.at, it’s now time for the final: our reporter Sarah Jahn was on site with the ten companies that our readers voted in the top 10. Today she is at Asma, where Melanie presents her company and internship.
Melanie is 17 years old and is in her third year of training as a toolmaker at Asma. With krone.tv reporter Sarah Jahn, she gives us exciting insights into her internship and her work – and explains what an internship at Asma has to offer.
In any case, Melanie never gets bored with her work, which she says is very diverse. Asma says there is “always something exciting to learn”. What does the company actually do? Asma is a global company based in Weitra in Lower Austria in the field of plastics production. Concretely, everything revolves around the most diverse processing and application options for polyurethane elastomers, as we discovered during our visit to the production facility.
Exciting working with plastics and machines
What does a typical working day at Melanie look like? She gets her practice pieces from her apprentice trainer. “Then I look at what needs to be done, then I program and photograph these parts,” the 17-year-old also gives us a glimpse into an ongoing project she’s currently working on. So she programs what is then machine-produced to explain it in a simplified way. Working with plastic covers a wide range of possible applications, reporter Sarah Jahn discovered with amazement during the tour.
In addition to the exciting work with the machines, Asma is a good employer for the young student, especially because of the pleasant working environment and the employees, says Melanie. Colleagues “are all so nice and helpful”. In general, working with machinery and metal is “full” of her field and is “extremely fun” for the 17-year-old, as she tells us.
“This is my dream job, that’s where I want to be”
Why did Melanie decide to do an internship? Her real path was school and a job she wanted to learn, “and that wasn’t mine at all, it was just so boring for me”. She then drew her own mother’s attention to Asma and Melanie then came to the company to get a taste of it. “Working with metal was so good for me, that’s why I said: ‘This is my dream job, I want to work there'”.
What benefits does the company offer students? In addition to the “bright” flexible working hours, you also get discounts in the various stores in the region, Melanie emphasizes positively. “We also have Christmas parties, we have apprenticeship leave and various outings. You have a hot lunch here and a healthy snack once a month, so there are fruit baskets ready,” the 17-year-old sums up in an interview with Sarah Jahn. Student’s conclusion: “You are well looked after in this company.”
What we could clearly see during our visit to Asma: the company invests in apprenticeship training, because the apprentices are also the “building blocks for the future, which this company will also receive”, as the mentor Jennifer Stütz told us at the end of our visit . Asma trains students in areas such as tool technology, machining technology, plastics technology and plastic deformation. In addition to the apprenticeship with a secondary school diploma, students can also follow training to become a foreman, for example, and there are many further training opportunities.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
