Constantin's first-hand reports

My name is Constantin; I have been an international trainee at real,- since February 2009 and I can say for sure that I have not regretted my decision to join the ITP for a single day.

During the first three months of the program I was introduced to the foundations of hypermarket operations at a real,- store in Berlin. I spent time in all of the store’s departments and also got to know the administrative side of the business. These months were an intensive experience for me, with almost all processes at the store being new to me. At the same time, however, this proved that I had made the right career choice: there is never a boring day at a real,- store. Moreover, the most important part of a hypermarket is its people, and at my store everyone was very helpful, which greatly contributed to a good training environment.

For the following three months I was sent to the Metro Group headquarters in Düsseldorf, where real,- category management is based. This has given me the chance to look at retail from a different angle: I was able to see how assortments are planned and implemented, always keeping in mind the customer - the one most important driver for our business. A particularly exciting area of this part of my training was own brand management. I was proud to be part of this department, as real,- has successfully built up a new portfolio of own brands that is without equal in Germany.

My training was rounded off by two ITP seminar weeks in Düsseldorf and Warsaw that addressed different topics of high practical relevance, such as intercultural competence or effective presentations. An essential part of these weeks was the opportunity to meet the other international trainees. Together with my fellow trainees I have also started to work on a supply chain management project that allows us to demonstrate our practical problem-solving skills.

Looking back at my first six months as a real,- international trainee, I feel that I have not only gained priceless experience - developing both personal and professional skills, but have also had the possibility to get to know many of the great people that make up real,-.