One of Germany’s top trainees comes from Hapag-Lloyd

230 of the more than 320,000 trainees who took their final examinations in Germany in 2015 were recently honored as “Germany’s Best”. One of them, Germany’s top trainee among aspiring shipping agents, was Saskia Boljahn.

Of the more than 320,000 trainees who took their final examinations last year in Germany, the 230 who earned the highest grades in their respective fields were recently honored as “Germany’s Best.” Among these was Saskia Boljahn, was the nation’s top trainee among aspiring shipping agents.

Saskia Boljahn now works in the Container Steering department of Hapag-Lloyd.

The 21-year-old completed her apprenticeship in January 2015 and passed with the final grade 1. This was the best final exam among more than 350 for aspiring shipping agents. Boljahn now works for Hapag-Lloyd in the Container Steering department.

„I think that trainees can only achieve such a positive result if they can identify with the employer, go to work with pleasure and a smile, are surrounded by great supervisors and colleagues and are ambitious and hard-working to a certain degree,” says Boljahn.

The best trainees from Hamburg with DIHK President Eric Schweitzer and moderator Barbara Schöneberger. Saskia Boljahn is standing in the back center. (photo: Jens Schicke)

At a ceremony held in Berlin at the end of 2015, the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) honored the outstanding accomplishments of these young individuals and the companies where they trained as part of the 10th National “Best of the Year” Awards celebrating trainees in the IHK professions. DIHK President Eric Schweitzer praised the “unbeatable accomplishments” of these top trainees, like Boljahn, and bestowed awards on the prize-winners before an audience of some 1,000 guests.

Hapag-Lloyd is the biggest maritime provider of apprenticeships in Germany. In the past year alone, 69 young people started their apprenticeship at the liner shipping company.