June 15, 2022
Over the past 35 years, Vestergaard has achieved proud traditions of educating apprentices and trainees, and about 100 apprentices and trainees have been trained with us over time. We take pride in offering high-quality training courses to our trainees and apprentices and thus contribute to the training of highly skilled craftsmen for the Danish labor market.
To begin with, metalworkers and industrial technicians were trained in our company. As time has passed, the company has developed from a conventional metal-working company to a modern industrial company, where the technological development has gathered speed and products have become increasingly complex. Concurrently with the development of the company as well as the expansion of production and staff, new fields have opened up. This development means that Vestergaard has new focussed ambitions within the apprenticeship and trainee area, ensuring skilled employees for future internal recruitment and the Danish labor market. Our ambitions in the field consist of several different elements and will be further developed in the coming years.
One of the distinctive features of our ambitions is that we have worked to become approved for more trainees and apprentices in the educational tracks we already have. At the same time, we have looked into opportunities in other fields. Our effort has contributed to the fact that we have now been approved for 31 apprenticeships/traineeships, among others, as metalworker, automation technician, electrician, IT, and technical designer. At present, there are 14 apprentices/trainees at Vestergaard. It is our ambition to fill all 31 apprenticeships/traineeships.
One of the 14 apprentices/trainees is 20-year-old Oliver. He became an automation technician apprentice at Vestergaard a month ago, after having completed a few weeks’ internship.
Oliver thinks that an internship before the start of an apprenticeship is a good idea. This allows both the company and the potential apprentice to have a look at each other before the contract is signed. 17-year-old Magnus agrees entirely. He has been an intern for a week and shall start later in the summer as a metalworker apprentice at Vestergaard.
Before his internship, Magnus met with two supervisors from Vestergaard who had participated in an apprenticeship visit at Roskilde Technical College. Magnus says, “I had seen several of the
apprentices at school wearing shirts with the Vestergaard logo, and my teacher told me that Vestergaard was a good place to be an apprentice.This is also where Andreas, who previously won the Danish Championship in Skills, served his apprenticeship”.
Magnus’ first meeting and knowledge of Vestergaard illustrates our strong collaboration with the vocational colleges. Expanding our already good cooperation with the vocational colleges is another element in strengthening the trainee and apprenticeship field. Among other things, it is done by attending school theme days.
Magnus had two internships on hand. What particularly attracted him about Vestergaard was that there were better opportunities to go abroad during his education.
The international perspective is another element of our strengthened apprentice/trainee efforts. Vestergaard is a global company, and therefore we look into the possibility of making exchange agreements with companies abroad. This can help open up greater perspectives for those who want it and can be a recruitment parameter for future candidates.
Oliver and Magnus say that the particular attraction to Vestergaard was the good atmosphere filled with a sense of humor and cooperation. Oliver elaborates: “There is a flat hierarchy, and you can make fun of each other, it’s very cool. And you can easily ask for help with something; people are good at helping each other”.
In addition, they are both impressed by Vestergaard offering physiotherapy, a lunch scheme and access to a fitness room. Oliver and Magnus also experience that a safe and healthy working environment is highly prioritized at Vestergaard. They talk about the efficient extraction system for welding, the aids for better ergonomic working positions and the welding robot that takes over monotonous welding jobs. Safety shoes and clothing were available from day one.
In conclusion, Oliver and Magnus put into words what characterizes a sound apprenticeship:
“A place with care and support, where the company appreciates the apprentice. A place where you a treated as a human being, and where you can make mistakes, but also learn from your mistakes”.
So the two apprentices have come to the right place here at Vestergaard. In the years to come, Oliver and Magnus will be part of the development journey, where we will be strengthening the trainee and apprentice fields.
