Stepping stones into IT professions: METRO cooperates with comprehensive school
16 March 2018Download as PDF
The job of an IT expert at METRO is truly exciting: in the form of individual IT experiments, students from the Maria Montessori comprehensive school in Düsseldorf have the opportunity to experience this for themselves on Friday, 16 March 2018. Under the motto "Let's do IT - Information Technology for hands-on trying and testing", they will gain practical insights into the IT world at METRO. Udo Bär, Director Infrastructure Betrieb and Birgit Planken, school principal, will sign the cooperation agreement for a learning partnership to help young students gain access to the labour world in an official ceremony at 11:45 am. This career orientation day kicks off a whole series of projects under the cooperation agreement. The trustee of the learning partnership is the Düsseldorfer Kompetenzzentrum Übergang Schule/Hochschule-Beruf (Düsseldorf Competence Center for the Transition from School/University to Professional Life). METRO's IT department will invite students from all other schools in Düsseldorf on 19 and 20 March 2018.
Germany faces a shortage of thousands of IT experts. METRO proactively addresses this situation together with the Düsseldorf Competence Center and schools in the state capital. It sparks the students' interest in the options offered by information technologies, gives them a look behind the scenes of the labour world, offers vocational training positions and thereby paves their way into the working life. Since June 2017 already, the company has been developing didactic concepts for a learning partnership. To steer and develop this cooperation further, a group of METRO employees, teachers and students meet once every three months. "As a wholesale and food specialist, METRO offers a large variety of exciting projects in the IT field. Digital transformation is omnipresent. Through partnerships, starting with the youngest talents, we would like stimulate the students' interest in IT. We are very pleased about the partnership with the Maria Montessori comprehensive school because it gives us the opportunity to present ourselves as a local employer and international tech player", says Timo Salzsieder, CIO of METRO AG.
Package of measures to facilitate career entry
The goal of the partnership: familiarise students and teachers with the requirements and key qualifications for different vocational training programs and with the business processes in a company. In this context, a package of measures for the different age groups is planned.
These include one vocational training day each for students from grades eight and nine in the framework of the Düsseldorf Days for Study Advisory Services and Career Guidance (Düsseldorfer Tage der Studien- und Berufsorientierung, DTSBO). In addition, vocational trainees of METRO will offer computer courses in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the students. The eighth graders will dive into the working life of vocational trainees at METRO and have a try at their first IT projects. From ninth grade onwards, the students have the opportunity to complete an internship at METRO's IT department.
The program in addition also features an internship for teachers, lectures about vocational training programs for IT specialists presented by a vocational training ambassador as well as advice for IT purchases.
"The Düsseldorfer Unternehmerschaft is a trustee for learning partnerships like this one with the objective to create a network between schools and companies and help young students enter the labour market. We establish the contacts between companies and schools so that they can realise projects together", says Christoph Sochart, Executive Director from the Düsseldorfer Unternehmerschaft (Employer's Association Düsseldorf). The entry into the labour world is to be achieved by way of practice-oriented teaching, career advisors in the schools, career guidance camps, mentors and coaches, company visits and internships. At the local level, the city administration, the employment agency, employer associations, the chamber of industry and commerce, the chamber of crafts and small industries and the district association of the craft trades coordinate all career guidance projects. Some 4,500 students in Düsseldorf are currently participating in such learning partnerships.
The next important dates at METRO for career entries in the IT sector: Monday, 19 March and Tuesday, 20 March 2018. On these days, information technology for hands-on trying and testing will be offered also to the students from all other schools in Düsseldorf.
METRO is a leading international specialist in wholesale and food retail. The company operates in 35 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2016/17, METRO generated sales of around €37 billion. The company provides custom solutions to meet the regional and international needs of its wholesale and retail customers. With its sales brands METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry and Real as well as delivery services and digitalisation initiatives METRO sets the standards for tomorrow: for customer focus, digital solutions and sustainable business models.
