A last-minute decision

She had just taken over the marketing department for the training of skilled workers at Siemens and was looking for an opportunity for further training in this area.

Sabine Piry began her career at Siemens in 2007 with an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk. The company makes great efforts to support employees in their development. In 2017, for example, she completed the vocational maturity examination and has been responsible for training coordination - including from a marketing perspective - since 2018.

Her job includes recruiting in the area of apprenticeship training. The job is exciting and intensive and Sabine Piry is often travelling to trade fairs in her role. Studying alongside a full-time job was a major challenge, but one that she describes as very valuable.

In her job, she has a lot to do with young people. "I believe that we as a society often have the wrong image of young people. Yes, they often have different views and different ideas about working life, but that's not a negative thing. It's still so great for me to see how they develop over the four years of their apprenticeship. Being in dialogue with young people is very enriching."

Apprentices are accepted at Siemens in the fields of electrical engineering and mechatronics. Models are offered with or without a school-leaving certificate. Another new programme is an apprenticeship-integrated degree course. A cooperation with the Bachelor's degree programme in Building and Energy Technology at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences was recently launched. In addition to studying at the university, students complete a training course in automation technology at the Siemens training centre. In terms of coordination, Sabine Piry is once again involved with her own university. The programme is very well received.

What remains from the degree programme, apart from the content, are colleagues who are now friends. "Without the mutual support in the degree programme, none of this would have been possible," emphasises Piry. "I can also tell others that you have to jump over your own shadow from time to time. It's never too late."