I graduated from high school in 2019 and of course I asked myself the question: what now?
I knew relatively quickly that I wanted to start an apprenticeship first and so I decided to train as an industrial clerk and successfully applied to CLASSEN.
I still remember the first day at the Classen company very well and was surprised how big it is here. In addition to the presentation of the company, the tour of the factory and the various information about the training process, there was a get-to-know-you session with all the trainees, where we had lunch together and exchanged ideas. Since the company is practically on my doorstep, I saw some familiar faces and was well received right from the start. The trainees from the previous years were not afraid to answer any questions we had and to help us when we didn't know what to do.
In the course of our training, we went through different departments. My first station was the store, our maintenance warehouse, followed by technical purchasing, which proved to be quite a contrast to my previous department. But it's exactly this variety between commercial and business activities that makes life as an apprentice exciting. So afterwards I came to digital printing and was allowed to gain an insight into our production. Here in Kaisersesch we produce our polymer floors. It's impressive what the huge digital printer with its 152 print heads looks like from the inside!
During my time at the reception, the Corona pandemic started. I was glad that I was allowed to prepare some appointments for the first few weeks before we could no longer receive external visitors. Nevertheless, over this period I was able to get to know most of my colleagues as well as all members of the management, because you often didn't have a face to go by and afterwards I knew who you were actually greeting in the hallway.
I spent my summer months in the purchasing department. In addition to typing out delivery notes and maintaining order confirmations, my main task was, among other things, to take care of the delivery schedules of the base papers for our second location in Baruth (Brandenburg), where exclusively our laminate is produced. Base papers are printed decorative papers that are then pressed onto the wood panel.
Furthermore, I was able to gain an insight into the application technology, combined with our laboratory. A really exciting department. Through the close contact with customers in customer care, learning tricks on how to best install such a floor and testing our products, I was able to gather valuable information there about the production and properties of our floor coverings to be able to really help our customers well in case of queries.
After I had the chance to work in the Sales/Export department for the North America team, I really realised how much responsibility there is in sending containers to the other side of the world. And it really is unbelievable to which countries and continents we ship our goods!
In conclusion, I can only say that I am very happy about my training at CLASSEN. So far, I have not only been able to learn a lot professionally, but also to develop personally and would always make this decision again.