Anyone spending a period abroad reaps the rewards for a lifetime. After finishing their vocational training, commercial trainees Céline Inniger (19) and Adrian Schäfer (20) completed a work placement in Dublin. Learning such a lot in that time is as much a part of it as the unforgettable experiences are.


Although the work placement training is over and Céline Inniger and Adrian Schäfer are back in Switzerland, the memories remain. Not least because looking back is a constant source of pleasure when they can tell people about the formative experience. Two stories from abroad:

Céline Inniger’s blue light deployment

“Thanks to my work with a translation company, from time to time I was lucky enough to take on interpreting assignments. That’s how, one Sunday, I came to receive a call for a job with the police. As I just happened to be on the other side of the city at the time, I was collected by two police officers in an unmarked police car. When I got in, they set off the siren and put the blue light on the roof. We sped like that half way across town to the police station – I was absolutely enthralled! The translating jobs in the main court of Ireland were also unforgettable. It was usually so loud that you could hardly hear the judge, which meant it was very difficult to translate. But it was always incredibly exciting and I learned so much.“

Adrian Schäfer’s experience with Irish Christmas dinner

“I always remember how, early in the morning, we had to sell as many tickets as possible within a narrow timeframe for special tours in Rome. For that, I was picked up by taxi and, once the work was done, there was an enormous breakfast buffet for everyone. It was also a lot of fun when, on 15th December, we were invited for Christmas dinner and went on a pub crawl of 15 different pubs with the team.”

And what are the two young professionals doing today?

Céline has just completed her vocational baccalaureate 2 and continues to work part-time in her company. Soon she will be travelling abroad for a longer period of time. Adrian is permanently employed in Switzerland as a businessman.

These work placement traineeships abroad were carried out by Birkenvale and supported financially by Movetia. You can read about all the recollections in the full report (DE).