Tanja and Lars Linssen embody the advantages of a classic dual training programme at Peters. The couple was trained as industrial clerks in an apprenticeship by the Kempen-based chemical company and have made a career out of it. Tanja Linssen is in charge of shipping, Lars Linssen of purchasing.
“In-out: We are like two poles for the company: In on one side through purchasing, out again on the other side through shipping,” said Lars Linssen, describing in very practical terms how the couple passes the ball to each other on the job, too.
Both emphasise that after leaving school, their apprenticeship was a good basis for gaining a foothold and developing their profession. This start helped both of them to make a career in their own company and to take on responsible management positions. Completing a three-year business administration degree on the side at the Duisburg Academy of Administration and Business while working, they earned their economist’s degrees in this context – she for logistics, he for procurement management. More than a side note to this success story is that Tanja and Lars Linssen also discovered their love for each other in the Peters family business; they have been married for almost ten years now. Together with their six-year-old daughter and the black Labrador dog Lulu, the family lives in Krefeld nearby the Hülser Bruch.
While Tanja Linssen from Süchteln started her apprenticeship at Peters directly after graduating from the Albertus-Magnus High School Gymnasium in Dülken, Lars Linssen studied chemistry for two semesters after graduating from the Krefeld Fabritianum and doing his basic military service. “I decided that a commercial apprenticeship was the better choice for the time being,” said the 42-year-old who grew up in Krefeld-Bockum.
As an industrial clerk at Peters, he could continue to cultivate his weakness for chemistry on the one hand. On the other, the practical young man, who celebrated his “20th anniversary” at Peters last year, was able to use his commercial skills. Thanks to his talent, he quickly became Purchasing Manager and still feels very much at home in this position today. “Purchasing is always exciting; no two cases are the same. Communication and sociability are in demand,” reported the former footballer, who was goalkeeper on the Peters company team. Owing to a knee injury, Lars Linssen now rides a racing bike and plays drums.
His wife, too, swears by the sound basic framework of the training. Tanja Linssen began her two-and-a-half-year apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at Peters in 2006 and, like her husband, added a business degree from 2010-2012. “It was a nice, but also gruelling time to sit down in the evenings and at weekends and study,” said the 37-year-old, describing her motivation. The effort was worth it; as a shipping manager, she coordinates exports to 87 countries worldwide. Tanja Linssen draws the strength for her responsible job from her hobby of needlework, which not only generates pretty children’s clothes for her own offspring and friends, but also smart protective masks against COVID for the Peters staff.
“It is in line with our philosophy to strengthen dual training. The Linssen couple is a prime example that it doesn’t have to be a university degree immediately after school, but that you can also rise to higher positions through an apprenticeship,” said Peters CEO Ralf Schwartz. You earn money immediately, have maximum practical relevance, high chances of being taken on and lots of opportunities for further training,” said Ralf Schwartz, naming just a few of the advantages of this solid path. Well-trained young people with a high level of commitment to the company – like Tanja and Lars Linssen – form the basic framework of the Peters workforce and will continue to be an important building block in the company’s future development.
