Coburg
Belgian vocational school students get a taste of work at Brose Coburg
Brose hosted the training of two Belgian vocational school students from February 2-13, 2015. The young adults are from Waregem – a town close to Coburg's twin town Oudenaarde in Belgium. Lander Saelens and Laurent Degezelle (both 17) are currently undergoing school training in electrical engineering at Vrij Technisch Instituut. They completed a 2-week mechatronics internship at Brose. During their first week, they worked hand in hand with Brose apprentices in the automotive supplier's apprenticeship training center. In the second week, they had the opportunity to observe skilled technicians and engineers at work in the Equipment Technology Center and Development Seat Systems department. "We are delighted to be able to give young students the chance to gain insight in our company. Unlike our dual-track training approach, Belgian training programs do not offer internships," explains Thomas Köhler, Apprenticeship and Training Human Resources Brose Group, who coordinates the student exchange and looked after the two guests during their stay in Coburg. "The student exchange program is less about providing job-related knowledge and more about personal experience. The international initiative enables students to broaden their horizon."
Two Brose apprentices were assigned to the exchange students to assist them. Future mechatronics technician Julian Winter liked working with the two guests from Belgium: "They quickly understood the technology and speaking to them in English also worked well. I really enjoyed it and look forward to making my own experience abroad." His colleague Dominik Hanussek added: "Although we sometimes didn't know the right words, in the end we always managed to understand each other. Since Brose operates on an international scale, we will certainly benefit from this experience in our future working life."
Brose has participated in the international student exchange program since 2010. The annual program was initiated by the State Vocational School I in Coburg in collaboration with the vocational schools in Coburg's twin towns in Austria, Sweden and Belgium and is funded by the Erasmus+ educational program of the European Union. The return visit for the Brose apprentices will take place this November.