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Industrial clerk (m/f/d)

Same old, same old – day in and day out, right? Wrong! During their training our commercial apprentices spend time in each of the administrative departments to give them a firm grasp of the various areas of activity within an industrial company. Once familiar with all the departments, you will specialize in one area – in accordance with your interests and capabilities. As an industrial clerk, you will independently manage business processes in materials management, sales, marketing, human resources, or finance and accounting.

Training period: 2.5 years

School-leaving qualification: high school diploma (“Mittlere Reife”) or university-entrance qualification (“Abitur”) or vocational baccalaureate diploma (“Fachabitur”)

You will need: a precise, methodical approach to your work, good language skills, and an interest in computers

Your training
  • You will play an integral role in the company’s diverse operations from day one
  • Gradually, you will work on different learning objectives in the respective departments and will be given your own limited task areas, for which you will also assume responsibility
  • Following your basic training in the individual departments (after approx. 1.5 years), you will undergo specialist training in one department – preferably, the area in which you hope to find a permanent position later on
  • Thanks to a wide range of activities, your training will be a varied experience from start to finish and will enable you to gradually develop your skills in each area
  • Organizational elements, such as planning the Christmas party, may also form a part of your training if you choose to get really involved in company life

You will work in the following departments during your apprenticeship:

Purchasing
This is where the goods and services are procured that the company needs to manufacture our products.

As an apprentice in this department, you will primarily work with suppliers and will learn:

  • how to prepare inquiries and quotations, and to compare tenders
  • how to process purchase orders
  • how to process delivered items and supplier invoices
  • all aspects of the dunning area – for deliveries and order confirmations

You will also carry out online research for new suppliers or articles.
As an apprentice in purchasing, you will also have sole responsibility for office supplies!

Sales
In sales, everything revolves around the customer – by e-mail, by phone, or by clarifying the customer’s requirements with your colleagues at ODU.
You will learn how to create quotations and process purchase orders. You will take care of allocating mail to the worldwide sales organizations.
After a few weeks in sales, you will be able to complete these initial tasks “with your eyes closed” – and will therefore be able to devote your full attention to understanding the relevant processes, one by one.

Human Resources (HR)
The HR department takes care of all ODU employees.
During your apprenticeship you will assist your colleagues with daily time recording and will

  • confirm the presence of our employees on site
  • record periods of sickness and vacation requests
  • investigate unexplained absences

You will add new employees in the system and compile the required documents..
You will learn how to handle personnel files, employment contracts, references, job applications, and payslips/salary statements.

Financial accounting
The accounting department is responsible for both our incoming payments and outgoing payment obligations.

  • You will process incoming invoices from suppliers (accounts payable) and outgoing invoices for customers (accounts receivable)
  • You will help your colleagues to post bank statements and investigate missing payments
  • You will get to know the workflows in fixed asset accounting
  • You will gain an understanding of investments and write-downs, as well as the process of scrapping
  • You will become familiar with the area of controlling

Process management
This department deals with production-related planning and control. People, machines, and materials must be scheduled at the right time and in the right quantities to ensure that our production processes are as efficient as possible. The relocation of goods to our production subsidiaries in Romania and Shanghai is also managed from here.

As an apprentice, you will gradually become familiar with these complex processes and will have the chance to work in different areas. Once per week, you will distribute key performance indicators throughout the company that include productivity data for the respective teams.

Marketing
In the marketing department, you can look forward to a range of exciting tasks that will let you both demonstrate and develop your creative side. Step by step, you will help the team in the following areas:

  • ODU website / online advertising
  • printed material
  • ads / offline advertising
  • trade fairs
  • catalogs / promotional materials (requests and shipping)
  • photos / image editing
  • creating presentations

After your training, you will independently process incoming requests for catalogs and promotional materials. For example, this may involve creating new images for our ODU Facebook content or writing a text on a specific topic. You can look forward to creative tasks that will promote and challenge your independence.

Internships throughout the company
During your internship you will get to know all the other departments at ODU, such as shipping, the lab and the tool shop. Each day you will be assigned to a different department, where you will become familiar with the employees and their daily tasks. An internship is the perfect way to get an overview of the workings of an industrial company.

Vocational school

Staatliche Berufsschule II Mühldorf am Inn
Innstraße 41
84453 Mühldorf am Inn

http://www.bsz‐mue.de/

Dual study program:

  • 1st apprenticeship year – Thursdays and every other Wednesday
  • 2nd apprenticeship year – Mondays and every other Tuesday
  • 3rd apprenticeship year – Friday

Vocational school hours: 7:55 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. The vocational school is easily accessible by public transportation such as the train and/or bus. Your lessons there will be precisely tailored to your training occupation. In both your vocational and general education subjects, you will study topics that will help you – and which you will encounter again – during your apprenticeship. You will thus be optimally prepared for the final oral exam in your third year of training.

Your public transportation costs will be covered by ODU.

Final examinations

Business processes (counts towards 40% of your overall grade)

The final exam on the subject of business processes lasts for 180 minutes and is taken on the first day of examinations. You will be asked open-ended questions about the related learning areas.

Economics and social studies

In this exam you will have 60 minutes to answer multiple-choice questions concerning social and economic aspects of your profession.

Commercial management and control (counts towards 20% of the overall grade))

Following the economics and social studies exam, you will sit a 90-minute final examination on the subject of commercial management and control. This is mainly based on topics relating to cost/benefit accounting and bookkeeping (multiple choice).

Examination based on a specialist field of activity (oral exam)

You will produce a five-page report on a process-oriented specialist task within your field of activity (your area of responsibility within the company). On the day of the exam, this will serve as the basis for your presentation (PPT) and the subsequent technical discussion. During your presentation you will be required to show – on the basis of your report – that you have understood the facts, workflows, and results in relation to the completed technical task. Afterwards, you will be asked questions on this topic. At this stage, it is important that you can explain and evaluate overall contexts and backgrounds. The presentation and technical discussion will take no more than 30 minutes in total.

Your future prospects

After completing your training, you will have many opportunities as an industrial clerk. You can choose to work in any area (see the departments involved in your training), specialize in one field, and independently manage a particular area as a qualified clerk.

Further training to become an industrial specialist (IHK), business specialist (IHK), state-certified business administrator, etc. is open to everyone and is usually offered at the IHK’s center for further training in Mühldorf.

A degree in economics (business administration, international business administration) or industrial engineering is also possible.

Incidentally
  • As a rule, we hire four or five apprentices every year
  • Industrial clerk is among the most highly qualified commercial training occupations
  • You can learn this profession even if you did not study business/economics in high school
  • This profession is equally suitable for men and women
  • It is, of course, also possible to work for a few years as a clerk and then complete further training or similar