Germany English
  1. Home
  2. Careers
  3. Job opportunities
  4. Graduates
  5. Graduate Specialist Program
  6. Testimonials
  7. Development
Portrait of a graduate

Testimonial
Graduate Specialist Program

Development

My name is Rene. After completing my mechanical engineering degree specializing in development and construction at RWTH Aachen University, I decided to join the Graduate Specialist Program (GSP) in the development department of my dream employer Bosch Rexroth. The program gave me numerous opportunities to develop as a person and to really make a difference. Today I am working as a project manager in the development of the ActiveAssist assistance system at Bosch Rexroth, which I designed myself during my time as a trainee.

It was very important for me to gather sufficient experience and expertise before setting out on a professional management career.

Portrait of a graduate

What impressed me most about the program was the amazing flexibility that it offers. As a trainee, I was able to select and configure the individual stations and their sequence based on my own interests. I was also offered various means of continued education and training, and was actively encouraged to think outside the box. While a period abroad is a mandatory part of the Junior Managers Program, it is a voluntary component of the GSP. However, I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity and consequently spent a brief time working at a cooperation site in China.

During the program, I was supported by my own personal mentor. He helped me to organize my placements as well as to devise and achieve individual objectives. He also continued to offer his support with any questions or problems I encountered after finishing the program.

From the outset, I was very much focused on the area of development, though product management and controlling were also on my agenda. During my very first placement, I was already involved in a long-term project in the field of Industry 4.0.

The area of Industry 4.0 was of particular interest to me since this challenging environment provides a unique opportunity to make your own mark on something. This being quite a new field, however, my team and I had virtually no empirical data to work with back then.

Even many months after completing the program, I am still tackling the many challenges posed by the implementation of Industry 4.0 in my work as project manager. One example is the identification of interfaces in the production process. The individual machines and processes must communicate and interact with each other without errors and with minimal programming, while the interfaces of work steps in production and logistics must be coordinated by means of standardization. Only then can we bring the concept of Industry 4.0 to life by improving the quality of products, ensuring individual adaptation to customer requirements, reducing delivery times, and creating more comfortable working environments. These issues continue to challenge my team and myself on a daily basis.

It is all but impossible for a humdrum routine or typical working day to establish itself in this environment – and that is what makes it the perfect job for me.

I would describe my current tasks as “half work, half hobby”, since the opportunity to play an active part in shaping the future of engineering makes any problems seem quite insignificant. If you are interested in the field of engineering and dream of one day making a real difference in the world, I advise you to be guided by your curiosity and never lose sight of it.

Regardless of whether you are at school, university, or in full-time project management – a good engineer should always question how something works and how it could be improved. Driven by this curiosity, you will develop the necessary grit, perseverance, and motivation to master and complete your engineering studies. And this in turn will allow you to develop or design something yourself, and hence make a real difference.

Your future starts now!

Join the Graduate Specialist Program at Bosch Rexroth.

Job market