In this blog post, our two apprentices give you a look at their apprenticeship experience at nine:
Cédric Droz (second year of apprenticeship)
Before starting my apprenticeship, I wasn’t really aware of what my training tasks as a systems engineer apprentice would consist of. I imagined that I would regularly visit the data center, but I did not expect to work on productive customer systems as early as during the first year of my apprenticeship. Although I had expected much more theory than practice, instead I’ve already been allowed to replace a hard disk, upgrade RAM, configure something in the DB and handle a web server, for example. I am also responsible for smaller tasks like cleaning the coffee machine or watering the plants.
I was initially part of the data center team, where I regularly assisted with the installation, expansion, and upgrading of many servers, including the high-security data center in Rümlang.
In the operations team, where I was until recently, there were daily assignments that required implementing customer wishes as well as possible, advising customers, and quickly responding to any problems and fixing them. There is always a lot going on in the operations team: so much that it can be almost too much at times. In such fortunately infrequent situations, it is important to keep a cool head and deal with the problem systematically.
I have been in the engineering department for a while now and am already working on some exciting tasks. On the first day in the new department I was – with the help of technical instructions – already allowed to make Debian 9 (which was released only a few weeks ago) available on our cloud servers, while I was updating the disk images from the other operating systems.
I have already learned a lot about web hosting at nine. I was able to develop my technical understanding as well as make connections in the different teams.
What impresses me in particular is that my colleagues recognized me as a full-fledged member of the team and that I have always been welcome to participate in company events from day one. The events are very special, such as the evening when the whole company went out to cook for themselves with the support of three professionals.
Along with the other apprentices of the company, I was even involved with selecting the apprentices for 2018, which shows me just how much confidence the company has in us.
Veton Cukaj (fourth year of apprenticeship)
Although I already had computer and hardware skills when I started this apprenticeship, it is and was my desire to learn more and more which ultimately kept me going through the three years and has motivated me time and again.
I am currently working in the engineering department. In engineering, you are a bit like a scout: you look at the landscape you work on every day and try to improve it further. I am also working on the integration of new services.
My “normal” day begins with the team coming together for the standup meeting and everyone briefly explaining what they accomplished yesterday and what they will be working on today. For example, I am currently working on PowerDNS 4.0.4. Over the last few weeks, I was, however, also actively involved in recruiting for the apprenticeship starting in the summer of 2018, taking part in several meetings and taking on additional tasks.
I now only have one module during schooling in the afternoon, and it is based on ITIL. We design a service there, so to speak, which we then create in the last module. I am also currently studying a lot for the CAE exam (Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English) that I will soon be taking.
Although I use Windows on my home computer, on my workstation at nine I work on Linux Mint, which has been running extremely smoothly since the start of my apprenticeship. I love this variety. I recently realized how much knowledge I have already accumulated over the years at nine. Of course I am not even close to knowing everything, which would be boring anyway, but I have always had the feeling of being surrounded by technical expertise.
PS: Wanna read more about us? We would be pleased to count you among our readers soon. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or wishes - we are looking forward to your input!
Photo: Cédric Droz & Veton Cukaj
