The apprenticeship as a management assistant in marketing communication at Soloplan

Organising, designing, being creative – does that sound like the perfect mix for you? If that is the case, the apprenticeship for the management assistant in marketing communication at Soloplan is exactly what you’re looking for; just like our two apprentices Melissa D. and Nicole K.!

Good morning Melissa and Nicole. You both are apprentices for management assistant in marketing communication. What else should we know about you?

Melissa: I’m 20 years old and I have been working at Soloplan since September of 2019, so about half a year.

Nicole: I’m 19 years old and I’m in the second year of my apprenticeship so one year longer than Melissa.

Could you summarise in one sentence what your apprenticeship is about?

N: One sentence is impossible, because our apprenticeship is incredibly diverse. One of the main parts of our apprenticeship is planning the trade fairs, because we present our logistics software on up to six trade fairs a year. Event planning is another important part. That means internal events, like our yearly Christmas party, and also public events, like the open day in September of 2019, or larger training sessions for our customers.

We also spend a lot of time on online marketing, like our homepage, social media and Google. That area is really extensive: These are partly really creative tasks like creating new posts, but also journalistic ones like writing news entries for our website.

M: But that is by far not everything! For example, we also cut videos, edit pictures, plan group photos, design promotional items and much more. In March of 2020, we also have the ground-breaking ceremony of the Soloplan City Resort, a hotel next to our company building. For this hotel, the marketing team is developing the entire brand concept and is creating the corporate identity, for example the logo and the company colours. The hotel is to be finished in the summer of next year, that means we are a part of this project from start to finish. We are really lucky to be a part of such a huge project.

Why did you decide on this apprenticeship?

M: Some acquaintances of mine work in marketing, which allowed me to get an ideas of some of their work areas and I quickly knew that this was the job for me. So, I did some research online and in the end I found an apprenticeship advertisement from Soloplan and I immediately applied here.

N: At first, I wanted to go to university to study marketing, but I decided to do an apprenticeship and I’m very happy with that decision. Here I learn the practical side and I get work experience at the same time!

What was your favourite project so far?

N: One project I’m already really looking forward to is our big tour of Germany, where we visit different customers with the Agency Silberstern und film user movies. I’m lucky and I can join and look behind the curtain of the filming.

M: I created a book for our CEO International Fabian Heidl. That book serves as a guideline for our sales department. The content was already set, but I beautified it and I also created the cover for the book. That took a very long time, but it was really exciting, because it required a lot of creativity. It’s a really cool feeling to be able to hold “my own” book in my hands.

Are you only working in the marketing department or can you check out other departments, too?

N: If we want to we can basically check out almost every department, for example, we can even go into the technical areas like the service or IT departments. However, for the two of us the commercial areas are more interesting, like the HR or accounting departments. 

M: I would also like to check out the sales department, because I’m very interested in the customer contact and in the general sales process. All in all, you can say that we spend the largest part of our apprenticeship in the marketing department.

You’re attending to the vocational school for media in Munich. How exactly does that work?

N: We have block teaching like the other apprentices, just in larger blocks. That means that we have three weeks of school every two or three months, but we are in different block times. Our dorm is paid by the city Kempten, except for a small deductible.

Was it difficult to settle in Munich?

M: I settle into new environments easily, because I’ve moved a lot in the last two years. It was especially easy to find new friends – whether it was in the dorm or at school. Of course, you have a lot of possibilities for spending your free time outside of school or the dorms in a big city like Munich.

N: For me it was the complete opposite: I’m from the countryside and because of that I’m not 100% comfortable in big cities. Once you’ve spend 2-3 days there and have made your first friends, it definitely gets easier.

What classes do you have at school?

M: In the first year, we have general subjects of a commercial apprenticeship, e.g. Business administration or accounting.
However, we can also choose classes that offer some really interesting subjects. They offer all kinds of classes, from Photoshop and InDesign to Brand Management, Advertising Psychology and Event Planning – basically everything in the marketing field.

N: In the second year, we have a lot of marketing-related classes. For example, there also is a two-week long group project where you create a marketing concept for a real customer.

What are your plans for the future?

N: After my apprenticeship I want to go to university, but I can also image working for Soloplan for a while first. If I decide on studying, I would like to work here as a working student.

M: My immediate plan is to keep working here, but I definitely want to study. No matter how I decide, I know that I’m well prepared for the professional world and all doors are open to me.

What advice would you give to new apprentices?

N: It is important to have fresh, new ideas, to be creative and to be brave enough to try something new, because no idea is wrong and you can create something new from anything.

M: Don’t be afraid and think you need to know everything beforehand. It is an apprenticeship after all and of course you don’t know many subjects yet. The important thing is to communicate with the team, so that it can react to wishes and weaknesses. If a warm working environment is important to you, the team here is definitely the right place for you. That was not everything!

There are three more apprenticeships. Here, you can read the interview on the apprenticeship for management assistant in IT systems. The other two apprenticeship will be released in the following weeks.
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