Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany, is holding another open house at its apprenticeship workshop this coming Friday afternoon. Young people are invited to the training center in Stammheimer Straße in Zuffenhausen to get an idea of the 14 technical and commercial careers for which they can currently train at Porsche. There are a total of 100 positions up for grabs; the apprenticeships start in September 2008.
In the words of Dieter Esser, head of vocational training, “Solid technical training remains vital to Porsche. It is only with the most highly trained new recruits that we can safeguard our excellent quality standards in the long term.” Those in highest demand are therefore industrial mechanics that can be turned into top-notch automobile manufacturers. During their training, the young apprentices develop in-depth knowledge of automotive engineering and are taught about the manufacturing methods used to construct Porsche vehicles.
In addition to industrial mechanics, this year Porsche is also looking for electro-mechanical automotive engineers who specialize in passenger-car technology or vehicle-communication technology. According to Esser, high-school graduates who are willing to work abroad for an extended period of time after completing the apprenticeship, to set up service centers in the growth markets of Russia or China for example, have particularly good chances. Assignments abroad are thus incorporated into the apprenticeships themselves.
Once again, Porsche is looking for secondary school students for technical
careers: “At Porsche, grades are not the be all and end all. We want young people who have petrol in their veins, team spirit, and technical aptitude,” says Esser, when describing the criteria that Porsche training supervisors use to select suitable candidates.
Moreover, the head of vocational training has not tired of calling for women to apply for technical jobs. At present, the proportion of women employed in Porsche’s industrial departments is around 10 percent – too few, according to Esser: “Every day we witness that the women are in every way the equals of their male colleagues and are just as enthused by Porsche technology as the guys are.”
In the commercial field, the Stuttgart-based sports-car manufacturer offers an Industrial Sales Representative apprenticeship with an additional qualification in international business management, a foreign language component, and various technical University of Cooperative Education courses. Anyone who wishes to find out more can get details from the Porsche homepage.
