Project Azubi Europa18.11.2013- 29.11.2013

Slovakia / Czechia

internship calendar By Christian Waeder

Apprenticeship: Industrial management assistant

1. Project Azubi Europa2. Slovakia

2.1. Sightseeing in Bratislava

2.2. AHK Bratislava

2.3. Stredná odborná škola Bratislava

2.4. Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry

2.5. Cargo Partner

3. Czechia3.1. Sightseeing in Prague

3.2. BDO audit

3.3. Helika

3.4. Střední odborná škola a Střední odborné učiliště Praha

3.5. German Embassy in Prague

3.6. A.S.A.

3.7. Czech Invest

3.8. Deltaplan spol. s r.o.

3.9. Salamander

4. Project work5. Sources

Table of content

The goal of “Azubi Europa” is to give trainees in the dual system the chance to do an internship abroad and to qualify them for the increasingly international job market.

1. Project Azubi Europa

The trainees should learn to orient themselves abroad in economic, corporate and training-related areas and develop principles of an international occupational competence.

My personal expectation was to increase my English skills by practical experiences and to learn something about the other parts of the European Union.

Capital: Bratislava Official languages: Slovak Government: Parliamentary

republic  Area: 49,035 km2

Population: 5,410,836 Currency: Euro (€)

2. Slovakia

Facts

2.1. Sightseeing in Bratislava

The Primatial Palace, built in 1778 and located in the centre of Old Town is considered as the most beautiful building in Bratislava. Its pale pink and white exterior is topped with various marble statues.

Novy Most (or the UFO) was completed and opened to traffic

in 1971.

In Bratislava there were many beautiful places and everywhere was the spirit of the Slovak culture in the air. We had to describe many attractions during a city rallye.

Bratislava Castle sits on a hill overlooking the city.Initially a Roman frontier post, there has been a castle at this site since the 9th century.

The Slovak National Theatre, standing at the end of the long Hviezdoslav Square, was built in 1885-1886 during the time of Austria-Hungary.

2.2. AHK Bratislava Our first appointment was at the Chamber of

Commerce in Bratislava, where we learned basic facts about Slovakia. Markus Halt, deputy general manager, gave us a first insight into commercial issues.

It was also explained to us, that Germany is very important for the Slovak economy. Many German companies have a facility in Slovakia.

Mostly in the automotive industry, Slovakia is dependent on a strong German economy.

We learned how an AHK works and which tasks it has. The network extends over the whole world. It is the first point of contact for German companies looking to expand abroad.

2.3. Stredná odborná škola Bratislava

On Thursday we visited a vocational school. After a short welcome, we came into a classroom. Three students presented us the Slovak education system in front of the entire class. Then it was our turn to show the German system.

The German dual system is fundamentally different from the practice in Slovakia. There is no cooperation between schools and companies. Because of that the training is not very progressive.

A very friendly teacher showed us the school and the equipment of the class rooms.

He told us about the problems in the schools.Because there are too many schools for a few pupils in Slovakia, the teachers do not have much influence on their behaviour. The students simply go to another school.

2.4. Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry Our second appointment of the day was the

SCCI. Ivana Kondasova introduced us to the activities of the organization and her personal projects.

The SCCI is an independent representative of the market economy in Slovakia, which protects the interests of business subjects.They support their development and expansion on a national, European and global level.

They help companies to find potential business partners and advise them on business plans.

Ivana Konda has a project called „Regiofemme“. It helps woman to get a better chance to find a good job or to found their own business.

2.5. Cargo Partner After a long bus ride to Petržalka we came to Cargo

Partner. It is an international freight forwarder. We toured the building and the large warehouse.

Cargo Partner is a dynamically growing, midsized specialist for transportation and integrated logistics with particular strength in oversea solutions.

Being a family owned company, their business model is based on personalized and global partnership.

They have their network in Western, Eastern and Central Europe, North East Asia, South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and North America.

3. CzechiaFacts Capital: Prague (Praha) Official languages: Czech Government: Parliamentary

republic  Area: 78,866 km2

Population: 10,513,209 Currency: Czech koruna (CZK)

3.1. Sightseeing in Praha

The Charles BridgeThe stunning 15th century bridge, which connects the 'Lesser Town' and the old town

St. Vitus Cathedral is a Roman- Catholiccathedral and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague.

The Castle of Pragueis listed in the guinnes book as the biggest castle in the

world.

We had to visit several destinations in the city.

The Astronomical ClockProbably one of the most famous sites of Prague is the striking astronomical clock of the town hall

The National Museum It’s the largest and oldest museum in the Czech Republic.

Tyn Churchdominates one side of the Old Town Square in Prague.

The John Lennon WallThis graffiti-covered wall features an image of John Lennon's face, who became a hero to the young when western music was banned here.

The German EmbassyIt occupies the large Palais Lobkowicz.

BDO is a worldwide network of companies that are primarily active in auditing. BDO has Member Firms in 138 countries, employed 55,000 workers in 1,204 offices

throughout the world. Each BDO member firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. German customers for example: Kärcher, Ravensburger Hüttenes, Wacker Chemie The departments are law, accounting and IT management.

3.2. BDO audit

Helika is an architectural firm and responsible in many places for the cityscape of Prague.

Through many public projects and innovative designs they are one of the leading companies.

Jana Vokounová explained us how the office works and showed us many projects. Mainly hospitals and shopping centers are built by Helika.

3.3. Helika

3.4. Střední odborná škola a Střední odborné učiliště Praha

On Tuesday, 26th of November, we visited a vocational school in Prague. It was housed in a beautiful old building.

After the welcome, we presented our school systems again. The Czech school system was also different to our system in Germany.

Then we had the opportunity to speak with the students and exchange ideas.

After that we ate in the canteen. We were slightly overdressed between the small children.

Together with the Czech students, we visited the city again. But it was very cold!

3.5. German Embassy in Prague With the Czech students we visited the

German Embassy. It is in the Lobkowicz Palace.

The Embassy has played an important role in the recent German history.

We saw a film about the events shortly before the reunification.

It touched us all. It was emotional to see what happened.

After that we said goodbye to the Czech students. All had been very friendly. It was nice to meet them and to get to know them a little.

3.6. A.S.A., spol. s r.o. • At the A.S.A. company we had a long conversation

with the head of the landfill. He showed us a video and explained to us the various components of the complex.

• A.S.A. is a global waste disposal company. We

were able to observe the technique and how to deal with the waste accurately.

• It's incredible how much waste is produced by mankind.

• The conservation of nature is also a major goal of the company.

• In the end we went in small buses to the landfill and got a good impression of the situation.

3.7. Czech Invest CzechInvest is the investment and business

development agency of the Czech Republic.

The services and development programmes contribute to the attraction of foreign investment and the development of Czech companies.

It was established in 1992 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

We had the opportunity to get some information about the invest situation in the Czech Republic.

3.8. Deltaplan spol. s r.o. The architectural and planning studio was

established in 1991. The idea originally set up under Sowjet

government in the late 1960s. The company´s offices are fully equipped with

the latest computing and printing technologies, enabling versatile management.

The most important goal is a high quality performance and completion of the customer’s orders.

This appointment was really cool. We talked relaxedly and openly with the employees. They presented us their projects and we had a lot of fun. This was a nice change compared to the other meetings.

3.9. Salamander Our last appointment was with the shoe retail company

salamander. We had a meeting with the manager of the stores in the Czech Republic.

The biggest surprise was that Salamander does not manufacture shoes any more but only gives its name and logo for shoes which are produced at different companies

Since the beginning of the nineties, the business was expanded more and more. At first there was only one store and now there are many of them!!

After that we visited a store, the quality was very impressive.

4. Project work We learned a lot about tradition,

economy and history. Another part was to get ready for

our appointments, like the presentation of our school system.

Last but not least we trained our skills in business English with role plays in business situations.

http://www.prag.diplo.de/contentblob/2791024/Galeriebild_gross/888621/bild_fluechtlinge_01.jpg

http://www.azubi-europa.de/ Reiseplan SK_CZ Nov 2013 für Azubi the homepages of the companies and organizations:

◦ www.dsihk.sk/

◦ www.sou.sk

◦ www.cargo-partner.com

◦ www.bdo.cz

◦ www.stredniskoladrtinova.cz

◦ www.asa-cz.cz

◦ www.czechinvest.org

◦ www.deltaplan.cz/

◦ www.salamander.cz

the DVD „Azubi Eropa“ my notes from the journey

5. Sources

Thank you for your attention!