IHK School College 2022 at OKM
The IHK Schülercollege is an initiative of the IHK Ostthüringen and offers pupils of all school types from grade 8 onwards the opportunity to try out different professions in regional companies. The aim is not only to give young people an insight into practice, but also to help them make a career decision and find their dream job.
The IHK Schülercollege program has been around for 10 years. OKM GmbH has been a training company since 2021 and has also been a cooperation partner for projects to promote young talent at the IHK Ostthüringen.
Start of the day internship at OKM
In the morning, the participants met directly in the foyer of the OKM pyramid and were first welcomed by the student college supervisor Anne Klehm. The supervisor welcomed new students and explained the "rules of the game" for the day. In a convivial atmosphere, participants already experienced in the Schülercollege were also able to talk about their previous experiences.

After an official welcome by OKM, represented by Technical Managing Director Christian Becker and Marketing Manager Janett Niklas, and a round of introductions, the potential junior staff were invited on a discovery tour of the golden pyramid. In the large conference room, the daily schedule for the participants was explained in detail, as the focus was naturally on practical tasks in technical and commercial areas.
Finally try it out for yourself!
The practical tasks were not just about "anything" with technology or media, because at OKM the focus is on treasure hunts. All the young people were invited to try out the detectors for themselves on the test fields in the OKM garden and get answers to all their questions:
- What do I use the detector for?
- What can I find with the detector?
- How deep can I find objects with the detector?
- How does the detector work?
- What can I see on the scan images?





After the detector training, groups of two were formed and divided up according to areas of interest. For the apprenticeships of industrial mechanic (m/f/d) and electronics technician for devices and systems (m/f/d), the young people followed the respective department heads to the housing design and electronics departments.
In the housing production department, the trainees were able to try their hand at developing a 3D model. After a brief introduction to the program, new shapes were created virtually. The aim was to give an ordinary pinpointer a fresh, innovative design. The young people demonstrated their creativity, quick comprehension, technical understanding and feel for trends.

Electronics provided an insight into the inner workings of technology: Here, cables and wires were first soldered onto test pieces and circuits were tested before moving on to the main workpiece, the pinpointer. Once its interior had also been soldered and then fitted into the housing, it was time for a functional test. Initially shaky hands quickly turned into a sure instinct, so that everyone was able to successfully complete their work.

In the commercial area, the aim was to prepare the finished pinpointer for marketing with appealing photos and descriptions. What had already been discovered in practice on the test field at the beginning now had to be put into words. In the marketing area, a short product presentation was created with the most important features of the pinpointer.



The presentations were finally held in the large conference room in front of the assembled team. The students gave an insight into the work they had done on the day of the internship. At the end, all participants received a certificate for their participation in the one-day internship at the IHK Schülercollege.
It was a successful day that was a lot of fun for everyone involved and will be remembered fondly!