Interview with trainers Nadine and Mariana

In your opinion, how important is the role of the trainer for securing skilled workers in your own company too?

Nadine: I think the role invests enormously in the future of the company. Apprentices contribute to the development and retention of talented junior staff and build a strong pipeline for qualified young professionals.

But I think the personal level is even more important than the professional component. As a trainer, I can only get the trainee interested in the profession in the long term if I match him or her with the trainee. This is extremely important, after all, the apprenticeship is the starting point for the entire professional career.

Mariana: I agree with that! As a trainer, I guarantee the quality of the apprentices' training and strengthen their work performance. I'm basically the role model for their future. Leadership is super important here.

What other qualities should a good trainer have?

Nadine: Empathy, patience, interest in the other person, a desire to teach others, an open ear, even for private problems.

Mariana: I would say a good balance between strictness and fairness. And the courage to offer constructive criticism. That's the only way trainees can develop. You shouldn't shy away from minor conflicts either. Of course, it's important to build up a good basis of trust.

How were you prepared for your role?

Nadine: It actually grew organically. I've always been good with young people and that's how it came about that I'm responsible for the trainees and dual students at trio. I think it's great to see how they develop over a longer period of time and become more and more independent. I'm particularly proud of our project manager, who started with us as an intern and now works for us alongside his career-integrated Master's degree in full-time remote working from Hamburg.

Mariana: We have trainees in various departments. I always found it interesting how they are trained and integrated. As an example, I had our development team and how they implement the training. This made me want to do the same for our UX team.

What challenges can arise when training apprentices and how do you overcome them?

Nadine: The biggest unknown for me: How will an apprentice develop? It's important to make the expectations of both parties clear from the outset and to communicate firm goals. This is the only way they can be fulfilled.

Mariana: I think one of the biggest challenges is to maintain the trainees' performance consistently over three years. I always have to keep an eye on this and proactively prevent it. It's good that we are a whole team of trainers and can exchange ideas with each other to find solutions to challenges.

How do you promote the integration of trainees into the company and the team?

Nadine: In my area, the training for marketing and communication, I always start with the commercial part, for example with creating offers and invoices. It's not so abstract because everyone has come into contact with it before. I also take the trainees directly into customer meetings so that they don't feel shy about contact and get to know all the processes straight away. I gradually hand over more and more tasks to them. This encourages independence.

Mariana: Equality with other colleagues is very important to me. Apprentices are not second-class employees. I take their concerns and opinions seriously and listen to them. They are integrated into all team events and work with different departments from the very beginning.

How do you align the training objectives and content with the current requirements of the labor market?

Nadine: When creating the training plan, we are guided by the legally prescribed minimum content. We then expand on these and adapt them to our company.

Mariana: As a digital agency, we know that market conditions are constantly changing. That's why we also promote further development among our trainees and encourage them to integrate new trends such as AI into their work independently.

Why would you recommend an apprenticeship at trio?

Nadine: We're a cool team and you can learn a lot here. We also support further training, which offers great prospects for the future. Some of our managers started with an apprenticeship at trio. The promotion opportunities and chances of being taken on are high.

Mariana: We have a lot of practical relevance, so "learning by doing". And there's great team spirit, so no one is left on their own.