Jan's impressions of the "Industry Skills"
From 5 to 7 September, the Swiss vocational championships "Industry Skills" took place at the Sindex trade fair in BernExpo. Jan (constructor), an apprentice from Ypsomed, also took part. He achieved sixth place in his competition and therefore did very well.
A total of twelve participants qualified for the final tournament at Industry Skills via the regional and national selections.
Precise work under time pressure
Jan worked on different sub-tasks in his category "EFZ constructor" on the three days of the competition: on the first day, the topic was hydraulics; on the second day, an aid for a lathe, a so-called tailstock. On the third day, the task was to measure a rather complex part and transfer it to the company's own CAD system. In addition, a clamping device (clamping of parts for processing) had to be assembled in a very tight time of one hour.
Like last year, we have very good results to celebrate from our apprentices at the Swiss Championships. We congratulate Jan on his sixth place in the category "Constructor EFZ" and are proud of the result achieved, says Jasmin Heer, Young Talents Manager at Ypsomed. Over the course of three days, he demonstrated his skills and more than adequately represented Ypsomed as a training company – we are delighted for Jan and for the renewed participation of an apprentice in the finals.
Our questions to Jan
What was it like to work like that for three days under time pressure?
It was quite easy at the beginning, because we had seven hours to complete a task on the first day. The real time pressure came only on the second day. This, because on the second day the same tasks were only to be completed in 3.5h. During the 3.5h I often looked at the time and thought about how much longer I could work on what I had just done. In addition, there were several phases in which I was not concentrated, because either a visitor came (which also set me up at the same time) or an announcement from the experts followed. Basically, I was able to estimate how long I needed for what.
How did you prepare for the competition?
We had the registration deadline for the championships in September 2022. Then, in January 2023, it really started with the regional selections in Basel, where the participants from Central Switzerland took part and competed against each other. I finished there in 4th place out of 6 participants that day. Then on 28 April 2023 we had the national selections in Glattbrugg, Zurich where a total of 24 participants competed against each other and had to prevail. 12 out of 24 advanced and I finished in 6th place, thus qualifying. After that we attended a CAD course of the program Autodesk Fusion 360, at Mensch und Maschine Schweiz in Suhr AG. The CAD course lasted three days from the 28th to the 30th of June 2023. After the CAD course I worked on different exercises, among other things some of these exercises were such, which were already handed out at the WorldSkills. After that it was already September and time for the competition.
What was the atmosphere like during the competition?
Tense but at the same time calm, there were a lot of visitors who were standing around us, but you could partly hide them well, because they held back. During the breaks we always exchanged our ideas and concerns with the other participants, besides we could all get along well with each other and also in the evening we had a lot of fun together (billiards, eating, swimming, etc.).
What are your plans for the future?
I will continue to work at Ypsomed until at least July 2024, after which I will most likely complete my civilian service. After that, I will go back to work and then go to university (college or university of applied sciences), since I also have a vocational baccalaureate.
Attractive apprenticeships at Ypsomed
Through the final participation of our apprentice in the Industry Skills Swiss Championship, we show that we offer exciting training as an interesting employer - and thus also make an apprenticeship at Ypsomed attractive for young talents. We hope that we will be able to attract further talent with our renewed participation in the final of the Industry Skills.
