Petra on Training Prospects

While many were on vacation at the beginning of August, Emely and Jeremy began their respective trainee programs at MVB. Meanwhile, Ronja and Olivia have already started their second and third years, respectively. Reason enough to consider the prospects training with us offers.

And if anyone can speak to this, it's our colleague Petra. The Head of Customer Service has been part of the MVB family for more than 30 years. For her, too, it all began with a trainee program. We asked her about the advantages of this path and where the journey might lead.

• What advantages do you see in starting your career via training?
  As a trainee, you begin your professional life in a protected environment. Instead of having to jump straight into the deep end of everyday work, you are introduced to the tasks step by step and can grow from them. While our trainees are stationed in the various MVB teams, they get to know our entire company. They can continually try out new things and thus develop a good sense of their own strengths. And of course, they also get to know the individual working practices within the company. At the end of their training, the young colleagues then have a very good basis for deciding which area they would like to enter.

• How has the training changed since you started at MVB?
  When I started, MVB was still the Booksellers' Association. A lot has changed since then. We've become increasingly digital and have grown too – also internationally. We work with more systems now and offer a broader product range. This alone has changed the framework. And the job profile has also changed. We no longer train publishing salespersons, but rather salespersons for digital and print media, and since this year, we've also trained an IT specialist for system integration. Furthermore, the trainees are much more self-confident today. During my training, for example, I was criticized for my "lacking" coffee-making skills. That unnecessarily unsettled me back then, but now I have to smile about it. Thankfully, those days are over. All in all, I would say that an apprenticeship at MVB today offers far more variety.

• How did you get to your current position?
  By persevering, continuing to learn, and asserting yourself. It's not always easy to change roles within a company. You have to have courage and trust in your own abilities. That's the only way to prove yourself: new tasks, new projects, new roles. This means more responsibility, but also more variety – so boredom never sets in. As a newly appointed team leader, I had four employees. Now, 20 people work in my department, including six former trainees.

• How much can you plan this path?
  Only to a very limited extent. You have to do your job well. But you also have to be lucky and be in the right place at the right time. Then you need flexibility to be able to accept new challenges and see them as opportunities. Sometimes you have to struggle. But in the end, it all comes down to having fun. As a leader, you need, first and foremost, a great deal of empathy, because you constantly have to adapt to new, very different people.

• What is your ultimate trainee tip?
  At the beginning, you can only do a little independently; that's part of the process. Those who embrace this and keep their eyes and ears open can quickly enjoy learning success. In my opinion, taking initiative makes the crucial difference. There are many ways to give your training a personal touch and make it something truly special.

PS: More insights into the House of Books can be found regularly on the website of the Börsenvereinsgruppe. Our current trainees are also introduced on our LinkedIn: Neu im Team

• Silke on the New IT Training Program
• Paul on Digital Marketing
• Kai-Uwe on Podcasting