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Filminterview Stefanie Giger und Caolin Weissenrieder

Fabienne Huff and Stefanie Giger explain in this short film what they learned during their internship at Geberit in the Middle Kingdom.


It is becoming increasingly important for global companies to acquire employees for assignments abroad. In order to advance the internationalization of its training, Geberit is focusing on graduate apprentices who are willing to undertake an as­sign­ment lasting several months at one of its locations abroad.

The aim is to give the young people the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally in a new and unfamiliar environment. During these assignments, they not only broaden their horizons – as newly qualified professionals, they often come up with valuable recommendations for improvement. A good example of this is mechatronics engineer Manuel Krom (see picture), who gained practical work experience in the production plant in Shanghai (CN) on completion of his ap­pren­tice­ship at Geberit Pfullendorf (DE). “During my apprenticeship, I realized that I wanted to gain work experience abroad and that I wanted to do so as quickly as possible on completion of my training," explains Krom. His supervisor Paul Wang emphasizes just how welcome Krom’s specialized knowledge was: “Manuel was able to help us in areas that we are looking to further improve here,” the assembly manager at the Shanghai plant explains. “This was particularly the case in the area of machine maintenance.”

Getting young people interested in assignments abroad and enabling them to gain a wide range of experiences early on in their career increases their willingness to be mobile at a later stage, which is exactly what Geberit is hoping to achieve.

Jörg Scherrer, Group Leader Product Development (photo)

“In addition to their specialized knowledge, the former apprentices bring along a high degree of enthusiasm and new approaches which also benefit the Chinese employees.”

Jörg Scherrer, Group Leader Product Development at Geberit Shanghai (CN) and intern Supervisor of the trainees


Fabienne Huff, Bachelor of Arts in Logistics (photo)

“I was impressed at how well my integration into the team in China went and how quickly I felt a part of this culture.”

Fabienne Huff, Bachelor of Arts in Logistics, back at Geberit Pfullendorf (DE) since the end of November 2013


Stefanie Giger, draftsman (photo)

“I learned a great deal during this short time, both personally and professionally – probably more than I ever could in three years at home in familiar surroundings.”

Stefanie Giger, draftsman, was in China for six months in 2013