Apprenticeship and training

At this time, apprenticeships are offered in overall ten trained professions. The range covers everything from administration to maintenance and even becoming a professional in the entire production process as wood technician.

Wood technicians at binderholz control the entire production process from receipt of the logs to the finished end product. Depending on the chosen primary module, the wood technician machines the logs into sawn timber (e.g. boards, bars, battens, profiled timber) or processes sawn timber further into laminated timber, solid timber boards or hardwood elements (cross-laminated timber) for the construction of low-energy houses. This includes the setup, monitoring and operation of production machinery as well as rigging and adjusting woodworking machines, conveyors, hoists and transport equipment. As a wood technician, you are the absolute expert when it is about forming high-quality products for the construction and furniture industry from the raw material “wood”.

A tightly organised administration and rational office work is decisive for our success. As an industrial clerk, you are the “all-rounder in the commercial field” at binderholz. Besides communication by phone, email and written correspondence, you are responsible for an efficient office organisation, follow up on reports, and ensure that the key figures and data are on hand. Your area of work covers orders and purchasing, sales and customer service, production, warehouse/logistics, finance and accounting, and even controlling.

As a mechatronics technician, you besides electricians, metalworkers and auto mechanics are a member of the maintenance team at binderholz.
Your responsibilities include the production, control and maintenance of mechatronic parts, components and systems for industrial production and processing systems. In addition, you take production and processing systems and automation plants into operation, and adjust the settings on the control units according to the circuit diagrams. In the course of troubleshooting bugs and faults, devices and machines are disassembled; measurements are taken with measuring and testing instruments, and corresponding testing and diagnosis software to thereby narrow down the potential causes of faults. Failures are repaired and defective parts are replaced.

Auto mechanic is a trained profession at binderholz! This is probably an occupational training specialisation only few would expect to find at a wood processing industrial company. However, our internal fleet with about 120 trucks, cars, diggers, cherry pickers, stackers, wheel loaders, etc. must be serviced, maintained and repaired on a daily basis. As an auto mechanic apprentice at binderholz, you check and install mechanical, electrical and electronic components such as engines, chassis, lights, ignition, and starter systems. Moreover, you adjust the settings of the engine, steering wheel, brakes or of the lights and use electronic measuring and testing devices as well as handheld tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, files and plyers for this purpose. Like the trained profession “wood technician”, the “auto mechanic” apprenticeship, too, has been designed as a modular apprenticeship as of late.

Similar as in the job of commercial clerk, as an office administrator at binderholz, you are responsible for the most important office and secretarial work and different administrative and organisational tasks. This includes general correspondence (email phone, mailings, ...), preparation of key figures, organisation and post-processing of meetings, coordinating schedules, planning and organisation of business trips, filing and preparation of mailings, maintaining records on income/expenses, etc. You complete these tasks in different departments at our company, e.g. the reception desk/secretarial office, accounting, HR, sales/purchasing or also marketing.

This trained profession is equally challenging as varied: Today, a hard drive is defective, tomorrow a production program crashes, and the day after that, a new service goes live while the entire telephony must be reconfigured at the same time. As an IT technician, you set up, install, test and service electronic data processing equipment. This includes the hard and software of periphery devices (e.g. printers, scanners, fax machines), operating systems, networks, interfaces, etc. As an IT technician at binderholz, you work in many different places, be it at the office or in the production hall. 

As a draftsperson at binderholz, your focus is on the execution planning of solid timber buildings. In contrast to a traditional draftsperson, who primarily sees to application plans, the focus at our company is on the detail planning. For this, you handle the planning of elements for our projects paying attention to the design, the selection of fasteners and production-related parameters such as dimensions and qualities. In close collaboration with statics experts, logisticians and sales employees, you search for the best solutions for the individual wood construction projects. To do so, you use state-of-the-art methods and tools. The components that you design on the PC are passed on directly to production thanks to the CAD + CAM system.

As a metal technician, you are responsible for everything to do with mechanical maintenance at binderholz. You produce machine parts and assemble plants and machinery, e.g. production plants/machines or hoists and transport equipment. In addition, you are responsible for the commissioning, maintenance and repair of production lines, conveyor belts and bands, lifts, hoists and transport equipment, etc. 

As an electrical engineering technician, you are part of the maintenance team at binderholz alongside the metal technicians and the car technicians. Your tasks include installing, assembling, maintaining and repairing electrical equipment, heat and power plants, machines and devices. Whenever a fault or plant failure occurs, the electrical engineering technicians must react immediately and be on the spot. Furthermore, you are responsible for the maintenance and preventive maintenance of all building services (e.g. air conditioning, light, power supply) and repair and maintain electronically controlled production systems.

In a large corporation like binderholz, the warehouse management has an important role - as an operational logistics administrator, you are the specialist for warehouse management. In this area, the following central tasks are completed: merchandise orders, acceptance of deliveries, correct storing and quality control. You work both in the warehouse/delivery area as well as in shipping and respectively technical purchasing. Contact with customers, suppliers, carriers and the employees in accounting, warehouse, production and maintenance are part of the daily work routine besides forklift driving.

We are very much looking forward to your application for one of our offered apprenticeships - in four steps you can become a part of our family enterprise:

1. Your application
   Please send us your application with cover sheet, cover letter, photo, résumé and copies of your certificates from 7th and 8th grade and your current interim report.
2. Selection test
   In this selection process, we test your basic understanding of mathematics, German, English and logic. A practical exercise is also part of this test.
3. Job interview
   This is a meeting with the training supervisor and the specialised trainer for getting to know each other and discuss the respective expectations.
4. Internship (“try-out”)
   In the course of at least two practical days on the job, you will get an idea of what the trained profession actually involves and your future trainer will get to know even more about you.

   
   Apprenticeships

   Please send your written application to the contact person at your desired location or simply give them a call in case of questions:

It is very important to us as a family-managed company that we work together with our trainees’ parents, especially in the beginning of the apprenticeship. You can find the answers to frequently asked questions of parents here.

When can you try out - do a job internship - at binderholz?
Practical days on the job (“try-out”) are offered year-round at binderholz. It is intended that the students can get an impression of the desired trained profession as close to reality as possible in the course of these days. Please obtain the school’s agreement, then schedule the concrete dates with the contact at your desired site and get started! The job internship is one of the best methods to see if a trained profession works for you in practice and if the actual work situation is also consistent with the information already available. If someone has a hard time choosing one of our offered apprenticeships, a practice week can also easily be split.

What does the seal of quality “Excellent Tyrol Apprentice Training Company” mean?
This seal of quality is awarded by the state government to those companies training apprentices, which practice the trained profession at a particularly high level of quality. For this, an expert jury evaluates the training work by means of several criteria and then decides who should receive this seal of quality. Since the year 2002 already, our family enterprise has been an “Excellent Tyrol Apprentice Training Company” while a new application to receive this honour is required every three years. In this connection, it is very important to binderholz to also hold seminars for the personal development of each individual apprentice besides teaching the training contents in practice and at vocational school.

Does binderholz also offer the “apprenticeship combined with the general qualification for university entrance” in Austria?
Yes, we do, on request and if qualified, each apprentice has the option to also attain the qualification for university entrance in parallel to the apprenticeship. After a suitability test with the respective educational institution, we choose the best model together and discuss the details.

What else is offered to apprentices besides training at the company and in vocational school?
The “binderholz Apprentice Days” are the third column in supplementation to practice at the company and to the theoretical knowledge taught at vocational school. All apprentices of the binderholz group - about 80 boys and girls - are invited to the corporate headquarters in Fügen for these 2-day blocks each year. Day 1 is about learning key qualifications, such as communication, presentation technique, time management and self-organisation. Day 2 is dedicated to getting to know each other and have fun. To do so, the following activities, for example, are organised: rafting, canyoning, high ropes course or trips to the Achensee or excursions to other well-known (partner) companies.

Does binderholz award premiums for outstanding success in the apprenticeship?
The performance-based premium system at our family-managed company provides that the apprentices receive premiums and letters of recognition from the management for good and excellent results achieved at vocational school. There are also rewards for good performance in the final exam - notably, in the form of purchase vouchers or additional premium payment.

Which career opportunities does an apprentice get after a successful final exam?
binderholz trains young people primarily so as to be able to cover the continuously rising need for trained staff in the future. Therefore, each trainee has the opportunity to start a career as trained worker if the professional and personal development has met the standards during the apprenticeship. We are proud nearly all apprentices can continue their employment as trained workers at binderholz after completing their exams. We think this is owing to our collegial work atmosphere and the corresponding development possibilities for young trained workers.

What opportunities do the apprentices have based on the international orientation of binderholz?
Each apprentice generally also has the option to complete a part of his/her training at one of our international sites for a few weeks on a voluntary basis. This way, the apprentices can get to know other countries and cultures, and this in turn has a positive effect on the young person’s horizon.

Is there also the possibility for parents to get to know the training company before the beginning of the apprenticeship?
Early involvement of the parents in the apprenticeship training has always been important to the family-managed company binderholz. For this reason, there is the possibility that those interested in an apprenticeship come to a consultation meeting together with their parents and see the training company for themselves.

As part of the professional orientation, teachers play a very central role - we would like to provide answers to the frequently asked questions here:

When can you try out (do a job internship) at binderholz?
Practical days on the job (“try-out”) are offered year-round at binderholz. It is intended that the students can get an impression of the desired trained profession as close to reality as possible in the course of these days. Please obtain the school’s agreement, then schedule the concrete dates with the contact at your desired site and get started! The job internship is one of the best methods to see if a trained profession works for you in practice and if the actual work situation is also consistent with the information already available. If someone has a hard time choosing one of our offered apprenticeships, a practice week can also easily be split.

Can I as a teacher go on an excursion with my class to binderholz?
You are very welcome at any time to come visit the works. After an informal presentation, all operational departments including the production department where apprentices are being trained are explored. Besides a look at the workshops, more can be found out about the content and process of the apprenticeship in personal conversations with the apprentices or the trainers. We are looking forward to your enquiry!

Does binderholz also offer visits to schools?
Yes, an HR officer together with an apprentice will be happy to come to your school to present our company in general, provide a few insights into the apprentice training, and answer questions relating to the topic of professional orientation/apprentice training. On request, an “application workshop” including training for a job interview, for example, can also be conducted. Meanwhile it is also possible to develop the right structure of an application folder with cover letter, résumé, etc.

What does the seal of quality “Excellent Tyrol Apprentice Training Company” mean?
This seal of quality is awarded by the state government to those companies training apprentices, which practice the trained profession at a particularly high level of quality. For this, an expert jury evaluates the training work by means of several criteria and then decides who should receive this seal of quality. Since the year 2002 already, our family enterprise has been an “Excellent Tyrol Apprentice Training Company” while a new application to receive this honour is required every three years. In this connection, it is very important to binderholz to also hold seminars for the personal development of each individual apprentice besides teaching the training contents in practice and at vocational school.

Does binderholz also offer the “apprenticeship combined with the general qualification for university entrance” in Austria?
Yes, we do, on request and if qualified, each apprentice has the option to also attain the qualification for university entrance in parallel to the apprenticeship. After a suitability test with the respective educational institution, we choose the best model together and discuss the details.

Can you start an apprenticeship at binderholz also AFTER receiving the general qualification for university entrance?
This, too, is possible when, for example, someone has completed the general qualification for university entrance and then wants to add a solid, technical specialised apprenticeship.