Field report by Michael B.
VWA OWL in Bielefeld - Bachelor of Arts
When I started sixth form at the grammar school in Delbrück, I had no idea what was going to happen after I left school. Between the eleventh and twelfth years of school, I did a voluntary internship in the accounts department of an industrial company. During the following summer holidays, this company switched to a different financial software, needed staff support and offered me a holiday job. I spent almost the entire holiday working with financial accounting figures. After that I realised - I could see myself doing this in the long term! I was offered an apprenticeship there for the coming year.
Although it was clear to me afterwards where I wanted to do my apprenticeship, I applied to several other companies for an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk, including ELHA-MASCHINENBAU Liemke KG. After a recruitment test and interview, I was also offered a training position there. In another interview, I was asked whether I could also imagine doing a dual study programme. Clear first answer: No!
Fortunately, ELHA did not let up and tried to convince me - successfully! After visiting the academy and attending a lecture to get an idea of the programme, I accepted and signed the contracts a few days later. A training contract to become an industrial clerk and a study contract to become a business economist (VWA).
After graduating from high school, I started my apprenticeship at ELHA-MASCHINENBAU. Shortly afterwards, I also began studying at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Academy of Administration and Economics in Bielefeld. The parallel study programme shortens the training period from three to one and a half years. The degree programme lasts three years. There is no block teaching in this concept, so I spent the first year and a half working in almost all departments at ELHA from Monday to Wednesday. On Thursdays and Fridays mornings, I attended the vocational school in Bielefeld to prepare for the final examination to become an industrial clerk, and on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings I attended lectures at the VWA.
After the written and final oral exams, I was allowed to call myself an industrial clerk and the focus was on my studies. Of course, I no longer had to go to vocational school. From then on, the working week consisted of four days. I was released from work on Friday mornings, and the lectures were still on Friday afternoons and Saturdays. At ELHA, I stayed in a permanent department for the time being - technical customer service. I got to know everything much more intensively here and gained a greater insight into the processes of the entire company.
The VWA changed its programme during the course of the degree. It was now also possible to add a Bachelor of Arts (Business Administration) degree in cooperation with the FH Südwestfahlen and the VWA Hellweg-Sauerland after the Betriebswirt (VWA). The additional effort is manageable and ELHA also supported me in this. The final exams to become a business economist were then due, including a diploma thesis that would later be recognised as a bachelor's thesis. The intensive learning phases paid off and the next milestone was reached. After a few weeks in purchasing at ELHA, I was given the opportunity to work as a project controller in the accounting department. I have been working there ever since.
From then on, there were only a few face-to-face events at the VWA in Bielefeld. Two additional exams and two small seminar modules were necessary to obtain the Bachelor's degree. Once I had received my Bachelor's degree certificate, my studies were complete. The Master's degree was no longer an option for me.
In the end, I'm glad that ELHA-MASCHINENBAU Liemke KG gave me the chance to do this dual study programme. The stressful time with the triple burden of work, vocational school and lectures and the associated six-day week - i.e. the weekend start at three o'clock on Saturdays - quickly became a habit. In retrospect, this was one of the most important experiences. Time management was also an issue at the VWA, as all students followed the same path. At the vocational college and in the lectures, we were only together with the VWA students in our year, which consisted of around 30 people. There were no mass events in large, overcrowded lecture theatres or anonymity. The lecturers were professors from universities all over Germany as well as practitioners from business and industry. Practical relevance was always an issue during the programme; sometimes more, sometimes less. As full-time study was initially out of the question for me, the constant alternation between theory and practice was a good concept.
Looking back, the dual study programme at ELHA-MASCHINENBAU was the right decision. At the age of 23, I was not only able to look back on a completed vocational training programme and degrees in Business Administration (VWA) and Bachelor of Arts, but also on some professional experience.
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