In good hands in the far north

After his holidays, Kjetil always really looks forward to going back to work. “Finally breathing in that smell of iron again is always nice,” says the 18-year-old who is in the second year of his apprenticeship to become a construction mechanic, specializing in welding, and works for thyssenkrupp at its Kiel shipyard.

Working with hands at thyssenkrupp

At first Kjetil was unsure what he wanted to do after leaving school. Only one thing was clear: “I don’t want to sit at a desk all day, I’d rather work with my hands”. A friend then told him about thyssenkrupp and how great the apprenticeship schemes there are: Decent pay, regular working hours, reasonable leave, broad training program – and a good chance of a job at the end. So his parents were thrilled when he was accepted onto the apprenticeship scheme at thyssenkrupp – a landmark of Kiel.

Easy start at thyssenkrupp

“At first after leaving school I was afraid I wouldn’t make any friends at thyssenkrupp, but they had a really great way of doing things and quickly brought all the apprentices together”. At the beginning lots of events were held at which the apprentices could get to know each other, such as group trips. Kjetil is now very happy at thyssenkrupp and has found friends there he now often goes to the beach with after work.

Welding, filing, drilling and grinding

But in the dual vocational training program for construction mechanics, Kjetil is learning more than just welding. In addition to all welding techniques, he is gaining other skills such as filing, drilling and grinding metal. In the practical phase his day begins at six in the morning. When he’s not working at his own bench in the training workshop, he’s in the production shop helping with the prefabrication of submarines. “I’m in really good hands here and if I have any problems I know who to ask for help – it’s great!”