Once again this year, trainees from REWE Group's Cologne locations achieved outstanding results in the IHK examinations. Four of them gave us their tips for successful learning.
The trainees surveyed who completed their training between 2019 and 2022 had two special features: Their profession is now called wholesale and foreign trade management assistant - and they completed a large part of their apprenticeship under corona conditions.
Nevertheless, many of them passed an outstanding examination at the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and the best in NRW were also honoured by HR Director Daniela Büchel:
After leaving school, I asked myself: what now? Should I go straight to university? But then I decided in favour of vocational training. Why at REWE Group? The company is present in all of our lives. It's big and offers variety - and it's in Cologne. Because I wanted to stay here in my home town. During my research, I also noticed that REWE Group regularly receives awards for its good training programmes. And I fully support the values it stands for, such as social commitment and Sustainability.
I felt very comfortable from day one and the joint trainee familiarisation trip was great. I thought it was great that we were assigned to so many different departments and that everyone there was welcoming and super supportive. And the training officers and trainers looked after us very well. The atmosphere was good, and I think that's important. When you feel comfortable, everything is easier. I also thought our learning groups were great, it was generally easier to learn because it was fun.
My tips for trainees:
Use learning groups with other apprentices. It helps a lot to have other trainees explain things to you and to explain them yourself.
Be well-rested and attentive, plan study breaks and time buffers. This all helps to minimise the pressure on yourself. But you have to have a plan.
Martin Schwenke, 21, completed his apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade management assistant in June 2022 with 98 out of a possible 100 points.He is now working as a dual student at REWE Group.
I received my scholarship shortly before the end of my apprenticeship and am now in my third semester of a dual study programme in retail management at the CBS in Brühl with the REWE Group as a cooperation partner.
After leaving school, I thought about where I wanted to go professionally and did a lot of research. I liked the REWE Group, it deals with food and I personally also pay attention to Sustainability. I liked the way the company presented itself to the outside world and I still like it very much.
It wasn't so easy for us trainees, as the coronavirus came shortly after we started our training, and vocational school lessons took place via home schooling for months. But the home schooling provided by the company helped us to catch up.
My tips for trainees:
You can't rest on your laurels with home schooling, you have to keep at it yourself and start learning early. I wrote the material down on little cards and studied in lots of places, at the bus stop, on holiday..
And even if you think you've got the material down, you can still be quizzed again and again. Prepare for the oral exam in conversations. You should practise conversation situations well, because in the exam there will suddenly be four people sitting in front of you.
Annika Koopmann, 22 years old, completed her apprenticeship in wholesale and foreign trade management in January 2022 with 98 points. Shortly before that, she received a scholarship from REWE Group for the dual study programme in retail management.
I joined REWE in 2016 as a temp in a store. I enjoyed it so much that I completed the school-leaver programme in the sales department at PENNY in 2017, which is a shortened training course to become a retail sales assistant. I then worked for an independent REWE retailer before starting my training at the head office in September 2019.
Switching between REWE and PENNY in sales is not necessarily common, but as there were no more vacancies on REWE's school-leaver programme at the time, I decided to do my apprenticeship at PENNY.
This practical experience really helps me to understand the store processes today. We at the head offices have very little direct contact with the stores. The retail training has given me an understanding of how what I do in administration affects the stores. During my second apprenticeship at the head office, I learnt to appreciate the variety of possible applications.
My tips for trainees:
Start preparing for exams early enough so you don't get stressed. I made flashcards, but you can also buy ready-made ones from the IHK. They're great for revising the exam material. I started two months before the exams and repeated the material for an hour a day with my flashcards. Otherwise, I can only recommend it: Prepare together with other trainees, it's more fun than doing it alone and you can help each other.
Victor Carrilho, 24 years old, completed his apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade management assistant in January 2022 with 97 points. He currently works in Category Management / Purchasing Full-range Fresh Frozen Food.
Even before I finished school, I worked in a REWE supermarket, where I did all sorts of things, from tastings to the service counter. So I was able to get to know the whole variety. But my dream was to study law, which I did, but after four semesters I realised that I missed the communication, the exchange, the variety. When I thought about what I enjoyed, I thought of the food trade.
The wholesale and foreign trade management apprenticeship was super varied, even just the departments we went through. And that was despite the fact that our time was characterised by coronavirus. I was only in the second department when it was time to go to the home office. The first two blocks of vocational school were cancelled. I was worried about whether we would manage it all. But you can't let yourself get stressed, even if the circumstances aren't ideal.
My tips for trainees:
As I said, don't let yourself get stressed. And definitely network. Because we were repeatedly sent to home schooling by the vocational school, we formed small working groups and practised the exam papers from morning to night. It's also good to work through the "can do" lists, i.e. what I can do, and write a study sheet for each main topic. Look at everything again before the exam. And then you'll be fine.
And definitely network! That means a super helpful give and take.
Leonie Wolf, 23, was taken on after completingher apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade management assistant with 94 points at the VS project management office, where she completed her last apprenticeship.
522 trainees out of over 10,000 exam participants in around 150 different professions from Cologne and the surrounding area completed their training with a "very good" in the 2022 final exams of the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).
REWE Group's Cologne locations were represented by 13 trainees at this IHK award ceremony, two of whom were subsequently honoured at the state award ceremony in Wuppertal.
These were retailers in wholesale and foreign trade management (some of them dual students in retail management who also completed their training) and office management clerks. in 2022, a total of 25 REWE Group trainees and dual students completed their training in Cologne.
