Moin! I’m Michael, 25 years old, and I’m currently training to be an industrial clerk with a technical focus here at VTG in Hamburg. I have been working for VTG since 2022 and have been involved in a wide variety of departments to gain a comprehensive insight into the workflows and processes of our company.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the great opportunity to visit various locations – both in Germany and beyond the country’s borders.

First stop: Sweden

First, I was able to spend six weeks working with my colleagues at Transwaggon in Helsingborg, Sweden. During my stay, I also visited our branch in Trelleborg, as well as some maintenance workshops in Landskrona and Malmö (EuroMaint and Swemaint). This was easily possible as part of a day visit, as all branches are located in the southern Swedish state of Skåne.

I took on a variety of tasks in Helsingborg: I prepared a detailed presentation on the evaluation of wagon damage, which included repair costs and various damage categories. As part of this evaluation, I accompanied the technicians on occasion to get a better and more practical impression of the damage myself. At the end, the results were presented to the technical, sales and management teams. I also held discussions with the scheduling and planning department, as well as the marketing department, and created a survey for HR. This gave me a good insight into the world of Transwaggon over the six weeks!

Teamwork, flat hierarchies and aha moments

After my internship abroad in Sweden and a short stopover in Hamburg, I then visited the Waggonwerk Brühl for two weeks to deepen my technical knowledge in various departments and to better understand the processes there.

In addition to the technical knowledge, I learned both in Helsingborg and in Wesseling how important teamwork and flat hierarchies are for a productive working environment. The open and cooperative atmosphere at Transwaggon was particularly impressive. An aha moment for me was the realization of how crucial it is to adapt flexibly and integrate new ways of working in an international environment.

Professional and personal growth

The assignments enabled me to develop enormously, not only professionally but also personally. Professionally, I was able to deepen my technical knowledge of specific wagon types and gain valuable knowledge of the Scandinavian rail freight market. Personally, the international experience made me more independent and self-confident, as I had to master many new situations. A special thank you goes to my Swedish colleagues, who gave me a very warm welcome and patiently explained everything to me. I immediately felt at home and we had a great time in the office and at the after-work events!

The assignment at the Waggonwerk Brühl in turn helped me a lot to better understand the processes for revisions etc. from the point of view of the works. I think it’s always valuable to get involved with the workshops, as it brings both sides closer together – increasing productivity!

Tip for young talents

All in all, my work assignments in Helsingborg and Wesseling were a great experience that I can highly recommend to all Young Talents. Looking back, is there anything I would do differently? I think I would learn the local language a little more intensively. Although everything worked very well in English, it is of course even better to be able to communicate fluently in the respective national language.
Otherwise, my tip for new young talents is: be open to new experiences and take every opportunity to learn new skills and expand your network. It can never hurt!