Silke Busch: Ready for takeoff

Silke Busch, Körber site: Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany 

Careers rarely follow a straight line. 
Mine didn’t either. 

I started at Körber as an apprentice. 
No master plan. Just curiosity.  

What followed were experiences that challenged me, changed me, and shaped me.  

And at some point, a realization: 
Not everything begins with big decisions.  

Some things begin with a mindset. 
From my early days as an apprentice to leading vocational training today. 

Take, for example, our reimagined student internship at our site in Hamburg-Bergedorf. 

At some point, many companies decided to stop offering student internships. 
Too much effort. Too little time. Too little return.  

At Körber, the question was different. 

Not: 
“Do we still have the capacity for this?”  

But: 
“If time is limited — how can we use it better?”  

Today, a student internship at Körber lasts two weeks. 
And during those two weeks, students don’t just observe. 

They build something. Together.

On the first day, they are introduced to a central idea: 
Körber builds products. 
And products are never created by one profession alone. 

Their product: 

A small helicopter. 

Over the following 14 days, the students move through all training programs in the education center. 

They design rotor blades with product designers. 
Print components using 3D printers. 
Turn, mill, and file parts in the workshop. 
Wire electrical components with mechatronics technicians. 
Discuss make-or-buy decisions with business trainees. 
Learn logistics by picking missing parts themselves. 

At the end of the two weeks, the helicopter is finished. 
And they take it home.  

But more importantly, they take something else with them:  

A genuine understanding of collaboration. 
Of how different skills interact. 
Of what work truly feels like. 

This idea didn’t come from a textbook. 
It is the expression of a mindset.  

The same mindset that has shaped many paths at Körber — including my own. 

During my apprenticeship, I was part of an internal pool: 

I was assigned wherever support was needed. 
No fixed department. No fixed place. 

At the time, it felt unconventional. 
Looking back, it was defining. 

Again and again, the same principle applied: 

Don’t wait until everything is perfectly planned. 
Don’t overthink every possible risk. 
Prepare — and then step onto the field.  

Even if you start on the bench. 

This is exactly the thinking we want to pass on today. 

Not a rigid 30-year life plan. 
But the courage to try things out. 

To leave the comfort zone. 
To learn by doing. 

Student internships at Körber are an open invitation. 

To try. 
To understand. 
To discover what might fit — and what might not.  

Because careers don’t grow from perfect plans. 
But from moments when someone says:  

“Let’s give it a try. It can — and will — turn out well.” 

And at Körber, that is surprisingly often the beginning of something bigger.