Best in the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce, best in Hesse, best in Germany: Julia Angele has had quite a dream start to her professional life. Because the 22-year-old from Giessen has completed her apprenticeship as an industrial ceramist at Schunk Kohlenstofftechnik as well as no one else in the whole of Germany in the final year 2022. And for this there was now the appropriate applause: first a week ago at the large gala event of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) in Berlin and now on Wednesday in Heuchelheim.
The Federal Minister of Labor congratulates
In Berlin there was the really big cinema: At the "National Best Honoring" there was a lot going on. 900 guests, Peter Adrian, President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), and Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil congratulated the winners and presented cups and certificates, through the event led the well-known German TV host Thore Schölermann, live broadcast on the Internet. "That was really a great atmosphere and a very nice experience! And I was also pleased by the great appreciation for the apprenticeship itself," says Angele.
"We are proud of you!"
The honor in Heuchelheim was one size smaller, but all the more heartfelt for it. "We are really really proud of you!" said Managing Director Dr. Stefan Schneweis. "And quite a bit also of us, that we have such good young people like you in carbon technology," he added with a wink. To congratulate Angele, she received a bouquet of flowers and the IHK award as the best training company for Schunk Kohlenstofftechnik (SKT) from HR manager Steffen Friedrich.
Actually applied as industrial mechanic
However, this great success was not necessarily preordained. "After I graduated from high school, my parents actually wanted me to study," Angele looks back. "But I preferred to go straight into working life." During a temporary job at Schunk in Wettenberg, she was able to get to know the technology company from the inside. "I really liked that," she says. And a neighbor who herself works at Schunk was then able to tell her many more positive things about Schunk as an employer. "So I then applied for an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic for the next year."
When talking to training manager Jens Crombach, however, it quickly came out that there was still a vacant apprenticeship position as an industrial ceramist that year. Would that perhaps also be something? "Julia and I then took a tour of the site and looked at what you do as an industrial ceramist," says Matthias Plefka, head of the test field.
Not tiles, but high-tech materials
"Industrial ceramics - that didn't mean anything to me at first," says Angele. "My friends said it must be something with tiles," she adds with a laugh. But Schunk is all about high-tech materials instead. "I was fascinated by how they're created in the lab at the test facility and then manufactured on a large scale in the huge mixers, extruders and presses in the mixing plant." The fact that her hands sometimes get dirty on the job doesn't bother Angele. "We've always had animals at home; I built the rabbit hutch myself. I like to get stuck in."
Passion for technology
No wonder her current manager Plefka is also full of praise. "Julia had this passion for technology right from the start of her training, you could tell right away." So what is going to be the next step? Perhaps further training? Technician, master craftsman or a degree would be possible. And Schunk would also accompany this path. "Let's see, I enjoy my work and would like to continue working in practice as a skilled worker," says Angele.
