Software Development Needs to Be Learned - Qualitas AG

About the job

Deborah Senn is training as an IT specialist in application development at Qualitas AG and has just completed her final thesis. I wanted to find out from her how such vocational training works, what makes up the daily life of a trainee at Qualitas AG, and why she chose this profession.

Hello Deborah, why did you choose IT as a training profession? Women are still rather rare in STEM professions; what was the deciding factor for you to take this path?

The idea to start training in the IT field mainly came from my father. He works in the IT industry, so I learned early at home what this profession is about.

I like that as an IT specialist I often work independently and get diverse tasks. Nevertheless, I do not work alone but in a team that supports each other, and we regularly exchange ideas. I find it exciting to look for solutions to very specific problems and thus advance a project a bit further. When I receive a task, I cannot just start programming; I have to consider how to implement the requirement sensibly. During implementation or testing, errors occasionally occur. In these cases, I first have to find out what is going wrong and then think about how to improve it so that my code works.

Deborah Senn

I am always pleased when my work helps someone, even if it is sometimes small things. Depending on the work environment, I sometimes get direct feedback on new functions. When a customer or Qualitas employee is happy that I have programmed something that makes their work easier, it motivates me in my work.

What do you like about your training at Qualitas?

I started my training in 2015 at another company. However, during my second year of training, it was decided to outsource IT in that company, and suddenly my place there was no longer secure. With the help of the Office for Vocational Training, I found contact with Qualitas AG and was given the opportunity to continue my training here. I am glad that it went so smoothly.

After the change, I soon felt "at home" at Qualitas, which certainly has to do with the good working atmosphere. I was quickly integrated into everyday work and shortly after starting, I received tasks that I could work on independently. That was very important to me personally and felt good.

What I like about Qualitas is that we do not have "anonymous" users. We work very closely with the project managers of our customers, i.e. the breeding associations. In this way, we can exchange ideas directly, and the functions we develop correspond to the needs of our customers.

The training to become an IT specialist is conducted in a dual system. What exactly does that mean?

The dual system is a form of training that is divided between lessons at vocational school and work in the company. The training lasts a total of four years, and the first year of training is divided into a school part and an inter-company course. In the canton of Zug, there are two different systems for the inter-company courses.

In one system, trainees are not in the training company at all in the first year but only at school or in inter-company courses. The courses are held centrally at companies like Roche. After all courses are completed, all trainees create an additional project work. My first year of training followed the other system. In addition to vocational school, I attended the inter-company courses as block lessons and spent the rest of the time already in my then training company.

From the second year onwards, the training is more uniform, and all trainees are in the company and attend vocational school on certain days. The number of school days decreases with each year of training, giving me more time to take on tasks in the company.