The University as a Workplace
Apprenticeship at the University of Bremen
With around 3,500 employees, the University is one of the largest employers in the region and offers training positions in many different areas: from technical and manual professions to laboratory work as well as administrative and service-related activities. These also include 27 apprenticeships .
What is it like to do your training at a university? What kinds of experiences do you gain – and what makes this workplace special?
Questions like these were answered for us by trainee Thea Saul in an interview.
Twenty-four-year-old Thea Saul began her training as an event management assistant in the central event management unit at the University of Bremen in September 2025. This area is primarily responsible for the organizational support and execution of public and academic events of the Rectorate. In total, around 50 events must be organized each year.
How did you first become aware of the University of Bremen as an employer?
A friend of mine studied and worked here. When I had been searching for a training position as an event management assistant for a while, she gave me the tip. At first, I was also unsure whether I wanted to do vocational training or study “Event Management.” I thought I might prefer to start a degree program to have better opportunities later on. But after talking things over with friends, I decided on vocational training so I could learn in a more practice-oriented way.
What did you hope for before starting your training?
I definitely hoped to gain more professional insights into the event sector. The reason I started the training is that my friends and I have been organizing a festival independently for almost six years, and it’s slowly becoming bigger and bigger. I would like to become a bit more professional in organizing it. Music festivals have always been my passion, and during the organization of our festival I realized how much I enjoy it. That’s why I started the training.
Have your expectations been met so far?
Yes, definitely. Above all, it’s important to notice that you can handle several events in a short period of time without everything becoming chaotic. These tools—knowing how to manage that—are very valuable.
Organizing one festival a year is a lot of work, but at the university we now actually have, over the winter months, about five events per month on average, which is of course a completely different level of effort.
What does a typical working day look like for you?
At the moment, I spend a lot of time in the office. Since we have to plan far in advance, I spend a lot of time at the computer, working with Excel spreadsheets, making phone calls, and writing emails.
Do you feel that the university as a training location influences your work?
Absolutely. I think that if I weren’t doing my training at the university, but for example in a smaller family-run business, I would come into contact with far fewer people. The university offers more of a social environment; also, because we plan many student events, you interact a lot with young people.
For example, you can also have an employee library card and similar things.
Is there anything that particularly surprised you during the first weeks or months?
Before starting the training, I had these clichés in mind that trainees only make coffee and stand at the printer. You also often hear that trainees are treated condescendingly or that they don’t get much responsibility.
I haven’t had that experience at all. I’m actually surprised at how much responsibility I’m already allowed to take on, even though I haven’t been here that long.
How do you like the training so far—what is going well, what could be improved?
I think at the university there is actually nothing at the moment that could be improved.
What challenges have you experienced so far—and how did you deal with them?
I like talking on the phone with friends, but I had never made official phone calls in such frequency before. You have to sound professional on the phone. Even just picking up the phone and thinking: “Okay, I also have to say where I’m calling from.” That was definitely an adjustment at first, or rather a challenge, yes.
Do you already have an idea of what you would like your work to look like after your training?
Yes, I definitely want to work in the field of music events or music festivals. Depending on how well our festival develops, that’s certainly an option. And if it doesn’t go so well, I would still like to stay in the music sector, because it’s a versatile field and every event is a bit different. And I really enjoy variety!
In closing, we would like to thank Thea Saul for the pleasant interview. We hope we were able to give readers a small glimpse behind the scenes of the University of Bremen.
For your information
At the University of Bremen, vocational training also usually lasts between 2 and 3.5 years, depending on the profession. In total, you can learn 11 different professions on site. Important components include practice-oriented tasks, regular examinations, and learning periods, including at the vocational school, with weekly or block-based instruction days.
Further information here: Apprenticeship - Universit?t Bremen