Experience Romania – Impressions and Experiences from My Abroad Stay

As part of his training as a wholesale and foreign trade management specialist at FRICKE Group, our apprentice Jordi spent three weeks in Romania. At the Timișoara location, he gained valuable insights into international processes and collected both professional and cultural experiences.

As an apprentice in the field of wholesale and foreign trade management in my second year at FRICKE Group, I had the special opportunity to complete a three-week stay abroad in Romania as part of my training program. This time was not only an exciting professional experience but also a rewarding personal journey. I was able to immerse myself in the daily operations of an international location, meet new colleagues, and at the same time discover a culture that was unfamiliar to me. In this post, I share insights into my experiences and impressions on-site.

Off to Timișoara

About a month ago, my three-week stay abroad began with packing my suitcase. On Monday morning, my journey started at Hamburg Airport. Unfortunately, due to a delay, I missed my connecting flight in Munich. Fortunately, I was able to rebook on a later flight and arrived in Timișoara, Romania, in the evening. There, Ciprian, the managing director of GRANIT PARTS Romania, was already waiting for me. Together, we drove straight to my Airbnb, which would be my home for the next three weeks.

Varied Tasks

Am nächsten Tag ging es für mich direkt um 9 Uhr ins Büro, wo ich schnell eine unterschiedliche Arbeitszeit zu Deutschland feststellen konnte. Anders als in Heeslingen starten die meisten Kollegen erst in den Arbeitstag um 9 Uhr. Entsprechend wird häufig bis in die frühen Abendstunden, also bis 18 Uhr, gearbeitet. Diese Regelung hängt auch mit der Zeitverschiebung zu Deutschland zusammen.

Meine Unterkunft lag in der Nähe des Büros, sodass ich jeden Morgen bequem zu Fuß dorthin gelangen konnte. Zu Beginn lernte ich das Team in einem kurzen Gespräch kennen, in dem auch die Inhalte und Aufgaben für meinen Aufenthalt in den nächsten drei Wochen besprochen wurden. In den ersten Tagen erhielt ich eine ausführliche Einführung in die verschiedenen Abteilungen und konnte so das gesamte Büro und seine Abläufe besser kennenlernen. Meine Hauptaufgabe bestand darin, die Kolleginnen und Kollegen in allen Bereichen bei offenen Tätigkeiten zu unterstützen. An einem Tag begleitete ich außerdem einen Salesmanager bei Kundenterminen und hatte die Gelegenheit, sowohl rumänischsprachige als auch deutschsprachige Kunden kennenzulernen. Durch die Geschichte des Landes sprechen viele Menschen in Rumänien überraschend gut Deutsch. Besonders spannend war für mich, einen Einblick in die Handelsstrukturen vor Ort zu bekommen und zu erleben, wie die Kundengespräche in Rumänien geführt werden.

Immersing in a New Culture

In my free time, I explored the city of Timișoara, where the GRANIT PARTS Romania office is also located. With around 250,000 inhabitants, Timișoara offers many opportunities to discover something new. Especially on the weekends, I took the time to get to know the city better and visit various landmarks.

One particularly interesting experience during my stay was visiting the "Agraria" trade fair in the city of Cluj, together with our managing director Ciprian. The fair provided many exciting impressions, but it was also special to me because it gave me the chance to explore another city in Romania. Cluj is located about four hours by car from Timișoara in the northern part of the country. After the fair, there was still time to visit some of the city's attractions and a golf course. The trip was a perfect combination of a professional purpose and cultural insight.

A Valuable Experience

I highly recommend every apprentice at FRICKE Group to take the opportunity for an abroad stay. For me, it was an extremely valuable experience that advanced me both personally and professionally. During this time, I became much more confident and independent, and I had the chance to meet many new colleagues. The cultural insights and experiences will also remain in my positive memory.

What impressed me most was the openness and helpfulness of the team on-site. I hadn’t expected this beforehand, and I truly appreciated being welcomed so warmly from the very beginning.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Ciprian and the entire team in Romania for the warm welcome and the enjoyable time. I felt comfortable from the start and was able to gather many valuable impressions that will stay with me for a long time.

If you want to learn more about the abroad experiences of other apprentices at FRICKE Group, feel free to check out the blog posts by Ben or Lene Henrieke.