How people and companies in Jena live interculturality
Every year, the i-work Business Award recognises companies in Jena that are exemplary in promoting intercultural openness in the business environment. The many practical examples from the i-work competition present the companies where integration succeeds in everyday working life and show how people at the workplace and beyond are committed to the cooperation of cultures. Would you like to learn more about how arriving in Jena and in your new job can be a success? Our blog series presents many interesting examples.
Meet Nguyen Quoc Hai and Huynh Duy Dang
Nguyen Quoc Hai
Apprentice as commercial vehicle mechatronics technician at Tröger since 2022
“I come from Ho Chi Minh City and did my bachelor’s degree at the Industrial University, specialising in automotive engineering and technology. I also learnt about car maintenance during an internship. I am very happy about my apprenticeship at Truck-Center-Jena GmbH. I speak Vietnamese, German and have a basic knowledge of English, which makes communication easy. In my free time I like to read and play games. Camping and jogging are also very fulfilling for me.”
Huynh Duy Dang
Apprentice as commercial vehicle mechatronics technician at Tröger since 2022
“I was born and grew up in Ho Chi Minh City. I speak Vietnamese, German and have school knowledge of English. I am happy about my apprenticeship as a commercial vehicle mechatronics technician and about learning a lot about Germany. I also like learning languages, doing sports and reading books in my free time.”
Many thanks and all the best for the future!
How it all came about
Inspired by a project of the South Thuringia Chamber of Crafts, Truck Centre Jena Managing Director Robert Jahn had the idea of also training young people from abroad in his company. So he got in touch with his motor vehicle guild in East Thuringia. Then everything happened very quickly: in June 2022, an appointment was made with a Vietnamese man who has been living in Germany for 15 years and also looks after a German school in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). He had already placed trainees from Vietnam for nursing professions in Thuringia. At short notice, he had two interested parties, who were already learning German, for the commercial vehicle mechatronics technician apprenticeship.
Robert Jahn then held an online application with the two candidates via video link and an agreement was reached very quickly. In July last year, the two training contracts were sent to the Foreign Office in Vietnam, and in August a flat was found in Jena and all the necessary arrangements were made. Two weeks later, both received their visas and a good week later an employee collected the two trainees from the airport in Frankfurt am Main.
The bureaucratic effort was not without its challenges, but it was worth it, as the two trainees from South Vietnam made a great impression in the first few days.
Truck-Center-Jena GmbH: About us
We are a small workshop that repairs, sells and rents out commercial vehicles, especially MAN vehicles. Our company was founded in 1996 (as Nutzfahrzeug-Centrum Jena-Maua) and has been part of the Tröger Group under a new name since 2016. In addition to our standard business of repair, sales and hire, we are also preparing for the future with different drive types on the one hand and new challenges for our employees (high-voltage training, handling hydrogen) on the other.
To the Truck-Center-Jena website
We will advise you individually on arriving and settling in Jena, show you where to start on your career path and find further contacts for you together with our cooperation partners. We look forward to hearing from you!
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