Insalco (Instituto Superior Alemán de Comercio) is anticipating large numbers of new trainees. Recently, 25 applicants made use of the opportunity to get to know their potential training companies at the Feria de Empresas.
The career fair marks the conclusion of a three-day selection process through which applicants must go in order to be accepted onto the Formación Dual Alemana. As part of this they met representatives of around 20 companies participating in the 'made in Germany' dual training system in Chile. "There's a real buzz, and that's a good thing!", says Ansgar Müschen, commenting on the packed rooms around the career fair in Insalco. Müschen is himself a trainer with his shipping company B&M Agencia Marítima and is also chairman of Insalco and board member of the Deutsche Schule Santiago, a German international school in Chile's capital.
Vocational school abroad in Chile
Insalco was established in 1982 as a successor institution to a commercial college of the Deutsche Schule Santiago de Chile. Due to the separation of secondary schools and tertiary training institutions required by law in Chile, it has functioned since 1992 as a legally independent institution within the corporation of the Deutsche Schule Santiago. Since 2000, Insalco has held the title of a German vocational school abroad recognised by the German Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK).
"The quality of the teaching at the vocational school meets the highest educational standards and is ensured by means of regular Federal Government-Federal State inspections of German schools abroad," explains Dr. Markus Stobrawe, Head of the Deutsche Schule Santiago de Chile. The quality of company-based training is also ensured by the Chile's Chamber of Foreign Trade (Camchal).
Three dual training occupations
Insalco currently offers three training occupations - in the areas of shipping, wholesale and foreign trade, and freight forwarding and logistics. "Due to the additional English and German teaching provided, our graduates are essentially trilingual and ideally prepared for the global labour market," explains Christian Preuss, Managing Director of Insalco.
The school-based training is implemented in accordance with German framework curricula. Upon successfully completing the two-year training course, graduates receive a German-Chilean double qualification which is recognised in both Chile and Germany as well as throughout the EU. Ever since it was formed, Insalco has worked closely with training companies including German global players such as BASF, Bosch, and Kühne&Nagel.
Applicants and companies come together
The career fair now offers these training companies the opportunity to get to know the applicants face to face and to take the next step towards a potential training contract. For their part, on the day of the career fair, applicants are able to question potential employers in detail and (hopefully) get an idea of their future employer. This model of personnel selection has proven very successful over the past few years. Unlike for other forms of training, the dropout rate is virtually zero. Both the company and the trainees are aware of who they are getting involved with, as well as what they are letting themselves in for.
"The interviews were very impressive. I think we've had outstanding applicants this year from all parts of Chile," explains Preuss. "It is all about applicants and companies finding one another and concluding a training contract." And for the trainees this means that from the start of March 2019 they will be attending classes twice a week at Insalco. They spend three days a week in the company - the dual system, just as it is in Germany.