In the second part of our series about dual education at Henkel, the student Michael Beckmann opens his office door for us. He is almost in his third year at Henkel and his dual education combines a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus on IT and an apprenticeship in Information Technology.
Nowadays, prospective students can choose from a huge range of different study programs. When we asked Michael what his dual education at Henkel makes it special for him, it does not take long until he comes up with an answer: “As a student and a apprentice I can speak and ask questions to everybody. The atmosphere is very familiar. But it is always absolutely professional. This is a special composition.”
For him, boredom has always been a foreign word during his education. In the beginning, he started in different IT department and currently gets to know more and more different divisions. “Pure IT studies would have been too boring. Here, at Henkel, I have the perfect combination of IT tasks and commercial work. That’s exiting.”
His example shows that IT studies do not only consist of raw numbers and data. Most recently he worked in the IT architecture department and concentrated on making applications, which work on laptops, available on smart phones. Currently he works in Human Resources. He always spends four months at his university in Mettmann then follows a four-month internship at the company. While his fellow students have to strive for a company where they can do an internship all he needs is to pick up the phone: “I simply call Henkel and ask: What’s about the next internship? And my wishes are taken into account if it is possible.”
That he spends his different internships in the same company has another big advantage for Michael: “I do not have to become acquainted in the company on small tasks. At Henkel, I get my projects directly, and the contact persons I do already know from former times.”
Study and apprenticeship are structured in a way that different targets need to be reached at regular intervals. Thus, there is no risk to loose motivation: “You are always rewarded for your work directly.” After he has passed the Chamber of Commerce examination, Michael was extremely proud. Now, the bachelor’s thesis comes up. For that he will be supported by his “family” at Henkel.
