Opting for steute as a training company
After school I wanted to do something practical and finally get to immerse myself in the world of work. Since I had always been fascinated by the economy in general and industrial business in particular, I decided my career path should start there. I opted for a traineeship as an Industrial Business Management Assistant (IBMA) and applied to steute. Following an assessment test and a really enjoyable interview, I immediately knew that I wanted to do a traineeship at steute.
My first traineeship year: from Production to Accounts
I started by working in all areas of the Production, getting to know the various products and receiving an insight into the processes of our operative business. This gave me a better understanding of the internal workflow, and I also gained a good all-round knowledge of what steute does. I was then in the Purchasing department for two weeks, followed by the Accounts department for two weeks.
At the end of the calendar year I worked in the Warehouse and learned all about incoming goods, goods storage and intralogistics. This was followed by a time in the Process and Production Planning department, supporting my colleagues with the planning and steering of our Production, and then in the Purchasing department, helping with all tasks surrounding materials procurement. I especially enjoyed the day I spent with colleagues conducting a supplier audit, where I was able to gain valuable insights.
My second traineeship year: Quality, IT, Dispatch and Accounts
I started the second year of my traineeship in the Quality department, where I learned about the quality assurance of our products and the quality management of our processes. In the IT department I was introduced to the construction of a computer, the function of our network infrastructure and the configuration of our document management system D3. At the end of the calendar year I was in the Dispatch department, where I was able not only to learn the relevant administrative tasks, but also to support my colleagues in the reorganisation of our storage system.
At the beginning of this year I returned to the Accounts department to learn in more detail the processing of incoming invoices, incoming payments and monetary transactions, as well as to take a look at Controlling.
My third traineeship year: Marketing and Sales
I am currently in the (Online) Marketing department. Here I take care of our Instagram account, have written this report for our Careers page and have helped with the launch of our new website.
Following my stint in Marketing, I will then go to the Sales department, where I will help with customer enquiries, order entries and order processing. For my college-leaving exams I will work autonomously on a final project, for which I will be solely responsible.
Vocational college and Business English
Alongside my practical training in the company, I also visit the Erich Gutenberg vocational college in Bünde twice a week. Here my practical knowledge acquires a theoretical foundation. In the ″Business Processes″ major, for example, I learn all about added value, goods and services, procurement and sales processes; in ″Steering and Controlling″, I am taught about accountancy, annual financial statements and cost & activity accounting; while in ″Economics and Social Sciences″ I am introduced to the most important trade laws and macroeconomic topics. These three majors are complemented by minor courses such as English, German, Data Processing and Politics. Our company also promotes language skills with a Business English course every two weeks, in which we learn to speak in English about company-related and general topics.
To summarise, I really like my traineeship at steute because I get the opportunity to work on a variety of tasks in different departments and learn something new every day. I particularly like working in a team with my colleagues because the atmosphere here is very good and the trainees are accepted and treated well. The traineeship has been flexible and varied, enabling me to find out which areas I am most interested in and therefore which direction my future career path should take.
