Starting out together in very different careers

Ten new apprentices at Karl Knauer

The ten apprentices who started their careers at packaging specialist Karl Knauer on 1 September have very different career paths ahead of them. Because although all of them are starting out in the same company, they will be trained in eight separate careers over the coming months and years. This shows for one thing how versatile the printing sector is, and at the same time that there are activities for every applicant beyond the standard careers that match their individual interests and skills.

Whether it's in sales or technology, classic training or a dual study path - nothing is off limits.

There is a media technologist, a specialist in warehouse logistics, a packaging technologist, an industrial mechanic, an IT specialist in system integration, a dual student in the field of business informatics as well as two industrial clerks and two machine and plant operators who all successfully applied for the vacant apprenticeship positions at Karl Knauer. Their first few days in the company will be spent participating in a complete, highly varied programme, during which they will find out more about both the company and the apprentices from the previous years. “We’re happy to be getting started again and that despite the coronavirus, we have been able to maintain our wide range of training courses. The fact that we have filled all vacant apprenticeship positions demonstrates that this was the correct decision. We want to give young people who suffered especially under the restrictions last year a bit of normality and a taste of everyday life in order to properly support them throughout their careers”, explains Marco Manna, Head of HR at Karl Knauer. “For that reason, we did everything possible to publicise our varied training opportunities among school leavers. Normally we would use internships, taster courses and other formats to get to know each other, but unfortunately this was not possible during 2020 and 2021”.

Professional expertise, paired with personal responsibility and creative ideas

Depending on their specialisation, the ten apprentices will handle highly varied issues and work on a range of topics. In addition, there is a range of projects at Karl Knauer for which the apprentices are responsible both jointly and partly on their own. This includes, among other things, the Karl Knauer meadow for bees, managing the social media channels on Facebook and Instagram or participating in industry-specific training competitions and events. “We consider it important not only to impart theoretical specialist knowledge to our junior staff, but also to transfer responsibility to them, offering them the space and opportunities to utilise what they have learnt in practice, and also to learn from their own mistakes”, continues Marco Manna. “Our second site in Poland offers our apprentices the opportunity to gain experience in living abroad, thus expanding their horizons”.

Excellent quality of education and training

Karl Knauer offers strong growth prospects in an expanding market with almost 400 members of staff in Biberach and 400 employees in Poland. The family business has received several awards for the high quality of its training. Those who use their “apprenticeship years” at Karl Knauer to gain knowledge and experience and successfully complete their training can generally look forward to a permanent employment contract. Because just as before, the packaging specialist plans to employ the new skilled workers in their own company in the future.