A few months ago, I was able to report on my first year of training in a news article, and a lot has happened since then. In my second year of training, I was not only able to go through other departments of the company such as IT, Support, Consulting and Sales and learn a lot, but I was also able to shorten my training period by one year. However, this is only possible if you can prove that you have previous knowledge. With my training as an information technology assistant, I was lucky and was able to shorten my training by a full 12 months!

With a precise goal in mind, to master the content of training years two and three in just one year, to bring the final examination forward by one year and to keep to a tight schedule, I set to work.

In the first year of training, attending vocational school was still a big mess. Poor organisation and communication on the part of the school due to the new challenges posed by the Corona pandemic meant that we didn't know our final class constellation and defined school days until two weeks after school started. A large part of the school year was spent in distance learning, as everywhere else. Fortunately, the next school year was a little more relaxed. Because we students were now much more disciplined, we were able to "enjoy" the lessons completely in presence. Since two others of our classmates were also shortening their training, our teachers did their best to prepare us for the upcoming exams.

Nevertheless, it was stressful, no question. At the end of March, we had to take the midterm exam, which for the first time in my year counted for 20 per cent of the final grade, followed by a 40-hour project paper on data protection and information security. However, I found this elaboration to be a pretty cool experience. For the first time, I was able to plan and implement a project completely on my own and finally present it to an expert committee.

A short breather and then it was time for the written final exams. And in June I was allowed to present my project work at the IHK, including a technical discussion. I had just 30 minutes for both. That was another challenge and I practised a lot on my presentation style in order to meet these requirements exactly. In the end - I did it! And with a really pleasing result!

I have to admit that, in looking back, shortening the training period was quite exhausting. I had actually imagined it would be a bit easier. But well, the decision was made and I don't regret it, because since a few days ago I have my degree in my pocket and can officially call myself "Businessman for IT and Systems Management"!

Off to work! At least halfway. Because I decided to go one better and continue learning with a degree in business informatics. In fact, I had already started studying once, but then dropped out. That was before my training. At that time, my studies were far too theoretical and lacked any practical relevance. Today it's different, because I have also developed further. My personality has matured and I have learned a lot in my field. My attitude to learning has changed completely and the opportunity to put what I have learned directly into practice motivates me a lot. I am more or less ready for a new (old) challenge!

I am particularly pleased that my employer MS POS is supporting my plans. In the future, I will work 3 days a week in the consulting department and support the Cegid team as a junior consultant. I have already had the opportunity to work with the team over the past few months and can now hit the ground running. The rest of the time I will spend on the online campus of the International University of Applied Sciences and study hard for my degree in business informatics in order to graduate with a bachelor's degree in about four years.

Finally - and this is particularly important to me - I would like to mention that I look back on my training period at MS POS with many good memories. I would like to thank all my colleagues who always gave me advice and support and especially Konstantin Gergianakis and Niels Wosnitza for their full support. I am excited and look forward to what the future holds for me!