3 Questions to Marie Frank, FLOCERT Apprentice
13.11.2019
What makes an apprenticeship with FLOCERT so special?
MF: To me, personally, it is this special feeling I have felt since I started at FLOCERT. When I come to work in the morning, meet my colleagues and start my tasks for the day, I feel like this is the right place for me, like I belong here. I fit in. The right place to do an apprenticeship and fully grow into an employee, alongside an inspiring team. My colleagues also teach me how to take on more responsibility or ask for support. I feel like I’m more perceptive than I was two years ago when I started at FLOCERT, I have grown, both professionally but also as a person. FLOCERT has prepared my way forward in all regards.
How hard was it to get used to English as the official company language?
MF: Of course, at first, I was terribly afraid. I thought: What if my colleagues don’t understand what I’m trying to say? Or worse, what if I don’t understand what they are trying to tell me? After a short while only, speaking English all day didn’t feel weird anymore. I got used to it so quickly. Today, my English language skills are still light years away from perfect, however this doesn’t limit my tasks or duties in any way – I keep reminding myself: Learning English is also part of my apprenticeship.
What’s the best part of a day at FLOCERT?
MF: Nice, funny, entertaining chit chat with my colleagues, for example about what I’m working on at the moment or events taking place the coming weekend in the area. Sometimes at my desk with my direct teammates, sometimes in the canteen or while getting coffee. These little exchanges at FLOCERT are particularly enriching and unwinding to me – I always feel such interactions nurture me and my work.
Marie Frank, FLOCERT's apprentice, thinks pigeons don't deserve their bad reputation. She likes observing them and, if necessary, bottle feeds and raises a baby pigeon by hand.