Testimonials

"With us, you have a good chance of being taken on after your training!" or "In our company, all paths to the top are open!" - Everyone knows these phrases that companies use to attract employees. At ALHO, Horst-Günter Schmidt is often cited as a prime example when it comes to showing that career opportunities are no illusion here. He himself completed his training as an industrial clerk at ALHO and can now look back on an impressive career spanning four decades at ALHO as Managing Director of ALHO Holding GmbH. "I was head boy at the time and actually wanted to do my A-levels. However, my headmaster advised me to complete an apprenticeship first in order to gain practical experience, and to complete my vocational baccalaureate later. Because I had already worked at ALHO during the holidays and my father was also employed there, I simply applied here," says Schmidt.

In 1974, he began his commercial training, which he successfully completed in just two years instead of three due to his excellent performance. Even during this time, he was the only trainee at the time - in what was still a comparatively small company - to take on independent tasks in materials purchasing, work preparation and costing. "After successfully completing my training, I switched to sales, where I took over the management of the ALHO plant for residential containers in 1983. Of course, I first had to gain customer acceptance in this position so soon after completing my training. In addition to sales, I was also responsible for the calculations and, on the side, I created building specifications and drew them myself," said Schmidt about his early days as sales manager. Three years later - at the age of just thirty - he was given power of attorney and was appointed Managing Director Sales at ALHO Systembau GmbH in 1993. Horst-Günter Schmidt was also Managing Director of FAGSI Vertriebs- und Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH from 2000 to 2009. "During this time, we set standards in the construction industry with our BASIC containers, which I helped to develop. This product is still available today in the ALHO Group with minor modifications." Schmidt was also involved in the further development of the ENERGY container. "In between, I wanted to see something different and worked in a friend's engineering office for a year.

In the end, however, I returned to ALHO because "just planning" was too boring for me in the long run. Here I can see the results of my work at the end of the day. That's the great thing!" says Schmidt. Horst-Günter Schmidt has been Managing Director of ALHO Holding GmbH in Morsbach since 2013 and is responsible for sales and technology. Under his leadership, the product portfolio was expanded in 2015 to include three-dimensional, industrially manufactured room modules for residential construction. "The training here at ALHO today is of course different to when I started. Back then, there were only limited IHK courses or factory training. Today, we try to support our trainees as much as possible during their training and also provide them with knowledge that goes beyond the training content. It is extremely important that they develop an understanding of their work and simply ask questions if anything is unclear. If you ask questions, get smart and show commitment, there are many paths open to you at ALHO."

"I started my training as an industrial clerk at ALHO Systembau GmbH in August 2004. I was quickly able to integrate myself into the company and identify with it. The three-year training programme was very intensive. In cooperation between the ALHO training company and the vocational school in Wissen, we were able to apply the theoretical knowledge we had learnt directly in a practical context, reinforced by internal factory training at ALHO. During the training period, we passed through the various departments of the company, from sales to work preparation, purchasing, project department, human resources and financial accounting, so that we were given a thorough insight during this time. The training and familiarisation in the individual departments enabled me to find out about my own skills in the commercial field so that I could prepare myself precisely for my future career.

After my apprenticeship, I decided to specialise in the commercial skills I had learned and began studying business administration at the University of Siegen. During this bachelor's degree programme, I worked as a student trainee at ALHO in order to maintain the practical relevance of the theory. The programme focused on corporate management and controlling, which gave me the opportunity to support the controlling department after graduation. My special area of responsibility is my day-to-day work with the French subsidiaries of ProContain SAS and FAGSI Location SAS. In addition to the creation and implementation of commercial structures and the development of concepts, reporting is also on my agenda."

When I joined ALHO Systembau in 2011, I began my training as a construction mechanic specialising in steel and metal construction. During this time, I worked in the maintenance, sawmill and production departments, while at the same time attending part-time classes at the vocational school in Betzdorf-Kirchen. The in-company training focussed in particular on learning various welding processes, while the practical part of the training was supplemented in blocks by courses such as pneumatics, hydraulics and electrical engineering at the Westerwald joint training workshop. Thanks to the good support from ALHO, I was able to shorten this training programme. After successfully passing the final examination, I was employed in production as a construction mechanic. There I was responsible for assembling construction components by welding modules/containers. At the same time, I began training to become a master craftsman in metalworking. After successfully passing the master craftsman's examination, I continued my training as a REFA specialist and work organiser with excellent support from ALHO.

I have now been working in the REFA time management department for about 1.5 years. My responsibilities here include determining time data, describing work processes and implementing them in the IT system.