Audi’s 2021 Best Apprentices
- Fifty people who completed their training with the Volkswagen Group will be honored with the title Best Apprentice 2021 – including seven trainees from various Audi Group locations
- Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources Sabine Maassen: “With our trainees, we have the best young minds onboard to successfully shape the mobility of the future.”
- Audi Chairman of the General Works Council Peter Mosch: “Our vocational training is a commitment to society and to young people.”
The valedictorians from the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm locations, Sabrina Scharlach and Florentin Richter, are among the best trainees in the entire Volkswagen Group. They have now received the Best Apprentice award, which Volkswagen grants annually. It is a sign of grateful appreciation for trainees who promote transformation through their performance and commitment.
“To be a Best Apprentice is very special. We are very proud to have such engaged and sharp minds as yours onboard,” Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources Sabine Maassen told the valedictorian trainees at the Volkswagen Group’s Best Apprentice awards ceremony. Audi is currently transforming into a provider of digital, fully connected, and sustainable mobility. The brand conveys the corresponding key competencies to its employees from the start: “In our company, transformation is ubiquitous and it starts with training. We rely on lifelong learning and orient our training content toward crucial fields of the future, like digitalization, connectivity, and electromobility,” Maassen explains. That is why Audi offers its trainees the opportunity to shape the mobility of tomorrow. Chairman of the General Works Council Peter Mosch adds that “training at Audi is a guarantee of an exciting career. But for us on the works council, it is also a commitment to society and to young people. The trainees learn a profession and are not just educated in a particular activity. As a result, many doors are open to young Audi employees after training.”
Repeatedly distinguished: the best trainees at Audi Germany
At the Audi awards ceremony on November 24, a total of 26 employees from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm who are in training or dual study were previously honored for their performance. This was followed by the Best Apprentice award at the Volkswagen Group level: the 50 valedictorians among everyone who completed their programs in the Volkswagen Group received this award in 2021. Among them at the international level were seven graduates from the Audi Group, including two who were trained at the German locations.
At the Neckarsulm location, the Best Apprentice award went to Florentin Richter, a bodywork and vehicle construction mechanic who completed his program in 2020. During his practical training at AUDI AG, he demonstrated a high degree of preparedness and motivation, for instance in a project called “Repairing a health care rescue vehicle,” which he undertook independently during his training. Richter also participated in the Audi ideas program three times – all of his proposals were subsequently implemented. Audi quickly recognized his potential and is now supporting him with a scholarship in mechatronics and robotics. The Wilhelm Maybach Schule previously awarded him for his outstanding performance. Additionally, the Heilbronn-Franken Chamber of Industry and Commerce selected this Audi employee for its chamber prize and nominated him for the state and national prize in his field.
The trained IT officer Sabrina Scharlach (training completed: 2021) received the 2021 Best Apprentice award at the Ingolstadt location. Working at Audi, Scharlach demonstrated a high level of commitment to her training – for instance as a co-consultant on the Stream&Chat format for introducing the job of “Salesperson for Digitalization Management (EOE)” or in organizing and deterring instruct for retraining employees. Scharlach is also continuing her academic career with an Audi scholarship and is now studying business informatics at the Universität Regensburg. After that, she wants to go into the field of international business partner management and look after the IT needs of international affiliates. This former trainee was already working in this area shortly before the end of her training with a focus on the IT management portfolio, where she helped digitize processes within international markets. For her outstanding service, she has been awarded by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria, which gave her the title of best IT officer nationwide.
Qualification for the jobs of tomorrow – a door opener
The fact that Scharlach and Richter were honored as the best in their year and granted the 2021 Best Apprentice award motivates both of them even more: “I’m very proud and I’m glad that my commitment during training paid off,” said Scharlach after the event. The award is also “an honor” for Richter, he said. “Studying was worth it! This award is an unbelievable appreciation, but also motivation for me to always give my best and have a goal in front of me.”
Answering the question of what makes Audi a good trainer, he says, “the high quality and the multifaceted area of application. Because that’s the only way a trainee can get a comprehensive image of the training company.”
Additionally, not only was there value in their employer’s support for both of them during their training, but also in the ensuing opportunities for further training: “Audi opens doors for a further professional career in the company,” Richter summarizes.
