The strong growth of the GROB Group has had a marked effect on the training department in Mindelheim. This September another 57 young people will start their training in Mindelheim, thereby increasing the total number of trainees to 158. The highest number of trainees ever seen in Mindelheim will be soon undergoing preparatory work for their forthcoming duties within the company.
In order to meet the growing demand for trainees at a time of unfavorable demographic change, GROB has devised a detailed, multimedia-based recruitment program, which includes a wide variety of interesting events and activities. It marks the beginning of a quest for suitable applicants, which starts with basic career guidance in the 7th grade at secondary school and ends with more focused information events just prior to the date when job applications have to be submitted.
The recruitment process in full
For GROB the main emphasis of our recruitment drive continues to be on the staging of recruitment stands run by the training department at regional job fairs. So school students meet the GROB team at careers information fairs in the nearby towns of Buchloe, Kaufbeuren, Günzburg, Memmingen and of course in Mindelheim. These activities, which are intended to arouse the interest of youngsters, are fully supported by Mindelheim's Marist College and Mindelheim Mittelschule (US: Middle School).
One new idea is to offer a student from the Marist College a long-term internship. We call the program "Try it", i.e. applicants are urged to "give it a go". At what phase of a planned project can you imagine your later training taking place? At the design and construction phase as a technical product designer, at the production phase on the cutting machine or in quality control at the end of the project? Students at Mindelheim Mittelschule have always been very keen on attending the "Careers Evening". At this event, the different companies showcase their apprenticeship training schemes in different classrooms. The students can attend up to three different talks and get to know more about how the companies' schemes vary.
In-house taster session
The number of students on work experience, or taster sessions, has been going up for years too. Last year 137 students joined in with these sessions at GROB in Mindelheim. The company offers five-day work experience courses in the specialist areas of industrial mechanics, mechatronics, electronics and technical product design. There is also a "Girls' Day", when female school students can gain an insight into the commercial or technical trades. Supervised by trainees, the girls attempt what will for them be new tasks, such as pneumatic planning, compressed air drives and time controls.
Furthermore GROB has for many years also been staging Infoweeks. This year for the first time, as well as a company presentation and a tour of the plant, on hand will be the M&E Infotrucks, where potential trainees can gain an in-depth look at the metalworking and electronics trade. No fewer than 13 groups from interested schools in the surrounding area took the opportunity to obtain information on training with GROB.
Then there are GROB's new recruitment video clips – the perfect supplement to the varied program outlined above. As well as the six existing short films on the various training options, a final info video clip is currently in the making. It showcases the company in the round and highlights the many different training and professional development options at GROB. But the very latest idea at GROB is radio recruiting. Since the end of July eight spots have been running on a popular local radio station. These shed light on professional training and also on a combined vocational training course with GROB.
GROB has also invested heavily in training resources. A new conventional milling machine and a new lathe have been installed for rudimentary and advanced training in the basics. The very latest additions to GROB's training center are a second G350 with Haidenhain controls and also a turn-mill center, which can demonstrate more effectively the different machining processes.
