Martorell, 16/10/2015. - Meritxell Castells arrives at the SEAT Apprentices School in Barcelona bright and early, as every morning, and her motivation is off the charts. She is one of the 74 new students who have managed to get a spot this term in the dual Vocational Training centre, and in her case, to study Electromechanical facilities maintenance. She knows and feels herself to be very fortunate – after all, she was chosen from among 1,072 applicants.
"At first I couldn't believe it", admits Meritxell, "but when I finally realised it was true I jumped for joy, I was so happy". In addition, this term she is in one of the classes with the highest number of female students in recent years, a growing number who are interested in studying a three year course that enables them to combine theoretical and practical training and also get rewarded economically.
Today is a special day. Meritxell is going to meet Javier Pérez, who is responsible for Installation maintenance at the Martorell plant, and who studied at the same school over 20 years ago. Walking down those halls that saw him grow as a student for three years, Javier explains that that was where he learned the value of "hard work, dedication and attention to detail", which he applies on a daily basis in his job.
They introduce themselves after a theory class. They have never met before but they share the same ambition – to work at SEAT. Javier has already achieved that; Meritxell, on the other hand, would like to work in the Bodyshop, a facility where there are "lots of robots and a lot of technology. That's what I like the most – working with the robots, programming them, changing parts...".
As they walk through the school's installations, Javier is quick to offer some advice to the young student. "Take advantage of your time here, enjoy yourself and work hard. If everything goes well, at the end you will get a job at SEAT". Meritxell aspires to follow the same path as Javier and as the 93 young hopefuls who have already joined the company with an open-ended contract in the two years since implementing the dual Vocational Training system. The day is over, they both leave, and their farewell to each other is a clear message - "See you at SEAT".
"At first I couldn't believe it", admits Meritxell, "but when I finally realised it was true I jumped for joy, I was so happy". In addition, this term she is in one of the classes with the highest number of female students in recent years, a growing number who are interested in studying a three year course that enables them to combine theoretical and practical training and also get rewarded economically.
Today is a special day. Meritxell is going to meet Javier Pérez, who is responsible for Installation maintenance at the Martorell plant, and who studied at the same school over 20 years ago. Walking down those halls that saw him grow as a student for three years, Javier explains that that was where he learned the value of "hard work, dedication and attention to detail", which he applies on a daily basis in his job.
They introduce themselves after a theory class. They have never met before but they share the same ambition – to work at SEAT. Javier has already achieved that; Meritxell, on the other hand, would like to work in the Bodyshop, a facility where there are "lots of robots and a lot of technology. That's what I like the most – working with the robots, programming them, changing parts...".
As they walk through the school's installations, Javier is quick to offer some advice to the young student. "Take advantage of your time here, enjoy yourself and work hard. If everything goes well, at the end you will get a job at SEAT". Meritxell aspires to follow the same path as Javier and as the 93 young hopefuls who have already joined the company with an open-ended contract in the two years since implementing the dual Vocational Training system. The day is over, they both leave, and their farewell to each other is a clear message - "See you at SEAT".
