Off to a flying career start: Waggonbau Graaff opens new training center

The plant, where VTG builds new freight wagons, trains young people to be construction mechanics, industrial administrators and IT administrators. Right from the start of their apprenticeship, each career beginner gains experience at a variety of departments. The 14 youngsters currently enrolled at the new training center will spend four years learning the trade, acquiring practical skills and adding value for the company.  

Broad-based knowledge lays a firm foundation for a good career
Lars Magerhans heads the new training center with the support of instructor Micha Vogel. At the modern trainee workshop, they lay the basis on which the youngsters can widen their vocational scope. “Apprentices and skilled workers are introduced to and actively involved in operating processes,” Magerhans says. “That gives us all kinds of ways to proactively develop our people and teach apprentices the skills they will need in the future. Newcomers thus get to see potential career trajectories across the company.”

Close collaboration with VTG RailTrain
The new training center in Elze also opens up more opportunities for collaboration within the VTG Group. For example, the center is stepping up its collaboration and dialogue with the Hamburg-based VTG RailTrain training program for young people with special educational needs. Practical work experience in Elze complements the instruction provided by the VTG RailTrainers. But it also provides a valuable insight into future career opportunities and has therefore been established as a regular component of apprenticeships starting in year two. “Deployments at Waggonbau Graaff and in the new apprenticeship workshop help the VTG RailTrain apprentices to sample the variety of activities in metalworking vocations,” says Thomas Mombrei, the man in charge of the VTG RailTrain program. “Thanks to this close cooperation, we are now able to pass on technical skills, which is a tremendous addition to the training program.”