HOW DOES STUDYING AND WORKING AT WÖLFEL WORK,
ALEXANDER GERAT?

Alexander Gerat was a working student at Wölfel for several years and has been supporting us as a permanent engineer since July 2024. In this interview from his time as a working student, he personally shares his experiences, talks about opportunities for newcomers to the workforce, internships, benefits for students, and much more about student life with us.

[Translate to English:] Alexander Gerat vor Firmengebäude in Höchberg

Listen to the entire interview in full length (only available in german)

Hello Alexander, you're a working student at Wölfel. What was your path to Wölfel like?

I studied Civil Engineering in my Bachelor's at THWS and I had Ms Rapps as a tutor for structural mechanics. During the winter semester break I inquired about doing an internship.

 

What kind of entry opportunities are available generally at Wölfel?

Often you need to be working on your final thesis, Bachelor's or Master's, or completing a mandatory internship. In engineering programs, it's quite common to do an internship during the entire fifth semester, for example. That's always quite attractive. Otherwise, you can send in an unsolicited application for a working student position.

 

It was an interesting option for me because it was something different from classical statics. In civil engineering there are usually two directions – structural design for statics engineers or for construction management. Construction management didn't interest me, but structural design did and when I heard that dynamics were also part of it, I thought, yes, that's where I want to go.

 

There's a lengthy onboarding period. You're given tasks continuously, starting with something like material quantity determination. In the construction dynamics department, where I am working at the moment, that would be a typical task. Also, we draw plans using CAD. These are things you might have done in your studies, so you ease into it. Depending on your interests or the fields that make sense to Wölfel, you get more tasks that delve deeper into the technology.

 

You always get support, and you can always ask questions. It works really well.

 

[Translate to English:] Alexander Gerat bei der Arbeit

During semesters I usually work one day a week. I am fully integrated into projects, working on things such as sketching, drawing plans. I'm an integral part of it.

 

[Translate to English:] Alexander Gerat mit Kollege

Very well. It's an advantage I saw at Wölfel. You are flexible in terms of how many hours you can or want to work per week, depending on what fits with your studies. It works perfectly. For example, at the moment I have exams and simply informed Wölfel that I am not available. It has worked out well.

 

We definitely are connected within the departments, but across departments usually only when working on projects together. Other than that, we only meet at company events or during lunchtime.

 

As an outsider, you can apply to write about one of the topics that Wölfel posts. If you work at Wölfel, there's some flexibility in terms of the topic you want to write about and the field in which you want to develop your skills. Then, together, you find common ground to make it happen.

 

Yes, definitely.

 

[Translate to English:] Brücke

Primarily, you see how things really are done in practice. Another big advantage at Wölfel is that many of the business areas focus on niche topics which means you gain specialized knowledge you'd never get during your studies. If you want, you can also progress directly towards specific goals.