What does Julia do?
As a Mechatronic Engineer Trainee at Volkswagen.
We met Julia, a mechatronic engineer trainee at Volkswagen. In our interview, she tells us why she chose the traineeship programme at Volkswagen, what exciting topics she deals with every day and what the work with her other colleagues looks like.
There are many exciting people, jobs and places at Volkswagen – that’s why we let them speak for themselves! As part of this series we visit Volkswagen students, trainees and apprentices from different divisions and talk to them about their career, current tasks and challenges in their job and what drives them every day.
Why did you choose Volkswagen?
My mother has worked at Volkswagen since her apprenticeship, so I've had a personal connection to Volkswagen since my birth. During the summer holidays my sister and I visited the so-called "VW Kids" a few times. Together with other kids, we were looked after for two or three weeks and went on lots of tours and learned a lot about Volkswagen. That is probably also the reason why I've always seen myself as a part of the company. During my three-week internship, I realised that I’ve belonged to the Volkswagen family ever since and applied for the training programme while I was still at school.
During the summer holidays my sister and I visited the so-called "VW Kids" a few times. Together with other kids, we were looked after for two or three weeks and went on lots of tours and learned a lot about Volkswagen. That is probably also the reason why I've always seen myself as a part of the company.JuliaMechatronic Engineer Trainee at Volkswagen
What problem does your work solve?
Since I'm still in training, I don't do the tasks of a mechatronics technician on my own. At the moment I work in the maintenance workshop in the paint shop and watch my colleagues, help them with their work and learn new things every day. Here, the cars are coated with different materials and insulated – mostly by robots. Of course, these robots also have faults from time to time and a component is broken or blocked. So far, I'm still watching the breakdowns, but I repair and clean the broken components on my own and then reinstall them under supervision.
What are you and your team particularly proud of?
The specialist department I'm in at the moment sometimes has to deal with very small components that are assembled from even smaller parts. There was a design error in a series component that the team found and improved. The team sent the problem and the proposed solution to the company that manufactures this component, and the company then implemented the feedback and the proposed solution. Many potential failures in the future could be prevented this way.
