Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS

We are apprentice

Martin Reichard

Martin Reichardt, Apprenticeships at Fraunhofer IWKS
Martin Reichardt, Apprenticeships at Fraunhofer IWKS

Hello, my name is Martin Reichardt and I have been an apprentice at Fraunhofer IWKS since August 1, 2018. I am 27 years old and am completing my training as an IT specialist for system integration. This is my third apprenticeship and finally what I have been looking for all the years before. It is a real stroke of luck that Fraunhofer IWKS choosed me despite my age. In the next 3 years, exciting challenges, nice colleagues and many opportunities await me to complete my apprentice as an IT specialist for system integration with one of Europe's leading research institutes. And if I am particularly good, I even have the chance to shorten all this to 2 ½ and start my professional life earlier.

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Company, vocational school and general information

The apprenticeship to become an IT specialist for system integration is a classic dual apprenticeship, in which part of the training takes place in the vocational school and the other in the company. School attendance is divided into blocks. This means that I attend school for several weeks at a time and then spend several weeks in the company again. For me, this has the advantage of being able to concentrate optimally on one aspect. The additional possibilities of the paid further training measures in the context of my training direction optimize my knowledge for the occupation.

Since I started my training, I have already had the opportunity to get to know many different aspects of hardware in a company. So I am almost daily busy with exchanging hardware. Be it simple hardware, like a screen or a mouse, but also more complex technology, like a server - I was already allowed to put this into operation together with my instructor.

In addition to hardware, software is an essential area in a company. In addition to simple software such as MS Office, we also manage special software used by our researchers. So far I found software license management the most interesting. It has to be supervised and monitored. As an IT specialist, you have to pay attention to small things that a simple user might not think of.

I also take care of the procurement of new cables or other everyday things. I organize changes to the operating systems and advise my colleagues on day-to-day IT issues. I particularly remember the conception of a media concept, which was independently developed and implemented by my colleague.