Placement

Profile of an intern: Simon Erb, Axpo Informatik AG (see appendix 1)

Would you like to explore your own interests and skills? Put information which you have learnt in theory into practise?

Axpo offers students the opportunity to amass their first practical experience in the workplace.

Apendix1:

Simon Erb, student of Business Management & Information Technology at Bern University, had the opportunity to experience work in the Axpo IT Department during a practical placement in the IT Consultancy Team. How did Simon, as a new recruit and future manager, find Axpo Informatik AG? Here's a quick summary of what he experienced:

"Having amassed a wealth of theory over 6 semesters of study at Berne University, I finally wanted to put my knowledge into practice. I was very interested in the opportunity I was given to pursue a practical placement in Process & Quality Management at Axpo Informatik AG.  My two months of work here have been a positive experience and I know that I made the right choice.

I was made very welcome from day one and became integrated into the IT Consultancy Team very quickly. My involvement in the "Internal Control System ICS" project and the work for Process & Quality Management brought me into contact with a wide variety of people within Axpo Informatik AG. I realized that Axpo Informatik AG is a competitive service provider in an exciting and challenging environment, where employees are put to the test and given support. I was able to contribute my own ideas repeatedly during my work and was also given time and support to work on projects which I found particularly interesting.

My duties were very varied. For example, as I already mentioned, I was given the opportunity to take part in the implementation of the internal control system where I took part in designing the processes for authorizing people to use the financial applications. I also helped to write two key controls in the course of this project. I gave a presentation to the management on a proposal for a preliminary project for a consolidated code system. My presentation was a success. Another of my duties was to work with the quality manager in implementing a control system for Quality & Process Management personnel in the projects. Within the scope of Quality & Process Management I was given the task of updating the management manual and of implementing the documentation for the internal control system. Last but not least, I also had the chance to consider ways of streamlining processes at Axpo Informatik AG.

A major highlight was the opportunity to visit the reactor during the inspection of the Beznau nuclear power plant. We were given a very exciting guided tour which gave us a good insight into nuclear power. I found it very interesting to get to see another area of the corporation. This gives you a better grasp of the correlations between different areas.

It was also a pleasant surprise to discover that the Information Technology sector has a department as sporty as the IT Consultancy Team. I enjoyed getting to know my colleagues as early as the second week by spending a great evening playing hornussen with them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for making my time there so enjoyable. I will have fond memories of Axpo Informatik AG and feel well and truly 'energized' by my time at the Axpo Group when I return to university in September to start work on my Masters degree."