One of the mentors is Kathrin Schreieck, a machining technician at Plansee HPM. She initially joined Plansee as a temporary worker after taking her Matura at the local high school, before subsequently starting her apprenticeship. "At the time, I had no idea at all what I wanted to do," says the now 29-year-old. This experience motivated Kathrin to come forward when she learned about the Sindbad program. "At the time, I wished I had had a mentor to guide me through the different opportunities." Now she fulfilled that role herself for her mentee, Alexis.

Once a month, the two meet in Reutte and then they just talk. With the help of colleagues, Kathrin showed her some of the "office jobs" at Plansee. "We were in the HR department, with a departmental assistant and in purchasing. Everywhere, colleagues showed us their jobs, told us what was fun and what was perhaps also annoying at times. In any case, it gave a good insight into all areas." After it became clear that this was not for Alexis at all, they finally stumbled upon a completely different path. From an early age, Alexis has faced some health challenges. So, for personal reasons, she came to study health and nutrition issues in depth. "Then one day I asked her directly if that wouldn't be something for her," Kathrin says, "So something like a nutritionist." And that was it. "That's exactly my subject," Alexis tells delightedly. So the two of them set about finding out what training options were available for this profession. They quickly realized that this would require a Matura. Highly motivated, Alexis therefore applied to the Higher Institute for Economic Professions (HLW) in Reutte - with success.

In addition to the regular meetings, the social business Sindbad supports the teams with supervision as well as communication and application training. The hope is that this program will set a precedent in the Außerfern region. "It would be wonderful if other companies in the region were to participate in the future," says Karlheinz Wex, spokesman for the Plansee Group. Because there are still decidedly too many students who leave school every year without graduating.

Since the employees of the Plansee Group showed so much interest, the program will soon enter its second season. Already at the end of June, an event will take place in Lindenberg in the Allgäu region, where the Plansee mentors can meet and exchange ideas with those from companies in other locations.