Trainee Programme

“I’ve been a bit surprised with the scope of the different fields in which Airbus is involved. I’m doing projects for two supervisors who work in different parts of the organization - Jaakko works with Defence and Space customers while Samuel is working with public safety and mission critical business customers in Secure Land Communications. I’m doing projects for both of them and my projects include quite a lot of market research and market analysis.

My daily tasks vary from day-to-day. I have to be in contact with people from many different departments - for example, I cooperate with marketing trainees and colleagues from the purchasing side. It has been interesting to see what happens in different departments inside Airbus and what people from different functions work on. All in all, my work has had a pretty fast pace. I like that there is always something to do and that I have been able to use my own creativity in my work.

The trainee program has been challenging enough even for a recent graduate like me. I’ve been able to push and challenge myself, and I think that the level of tasks I have been assigned and my skills match well together. It's rewarding to see what I've learned and achieved already in such a short time. All in all, I think Airbus’ trainee programme teaches skills that are valuable and useful for my future, not only in working life, but also outside of work.”

“Airbus has been just the experience that I needed at this point of my career. This position has allowed me to use the skills and knowledge I’ve gained during my studies and apply them to meaningful work. It has been really helpful for me to figure out which direction to focus my studies on because I’ve seen the type of work that I like and what I’m good at. It’s been a good experience to have a position where you can actually apply your skills.

On a daily basis, I work with different issues, situations, and problems related to our facilities and premises and I´m also trusted to handle them. An interesting project I'm working on is the flex-office project to modernize our office space in Jyväskylä, and I'm involved in planning and setting goals for the project within set time constraints. There is always support available and I can always ask for help, but I’m also trusted to deal with different problems on my own, which is great.

Another thing I’m grateful for in this traineeship is to be able to learn and also give back to a company that does a lot of good. At the end of the day, the business of Secure Land Communications is about helping people and it's something we can be proud of.

“Airbus has given me a really good chance to learn something new about a field I'm passionate about - security.

I’m mostly working with personal and facility-related matters, but I´ve had the opportunity to familiarize myself with other branches of security too. I get to learn something new every day, not only about security, but also about how a company of this size operates. Colleagues outside my team are also approachable, and I have enjoyed learning something new about their field of work too. It's safe to say, the people at Airbus are really warm and welcoming.

Security has a high priority in our field of business. It has been amazing to see how good the security culture at Airbus is - people at Airbus really respect the importance of security and you can clearly tell it is everyone’s responsibility in the company."

“It’s really interesting working with a company in the satellite communication industry using cutting edge technology.

I’m working in strategic marketing and technologies, where we are studying satellite technologies for the public safety users. The sector has been new to me and it has been especially intriguing to dive into the requirements for communication systems used by authorities and governments.

I would say the lessons learned during my Airbus employment are definitely beneficial for my future. I now have a deep understanding of the telecommunications sector in general, and it has been exciting to dig deeper into these technical topics.

Airbus employees are experts in their field and I have been able to build up my professional network. I have gained contacts from within the company, and also from outside - in universities and with various stakeholders I met through our projects.”

“Being challenged in my work and trusted to execute my tasks is really important to me. Over the summer, I´ve been supported by team members to tackle new projects, and I am encouraged to learn and also share my findings with colleagues.

My role is mostly project-focused. I´m able to develop my own approach to the projects, analyze opportunities for improvement, and also discuss different constraints with my colleagues in an open and friendly environment. I think my previous professional experience is appreciated, and I’m given autonomy in my work. When I have a new idea or suggestion, I am supported and able to shape the projects I work on based on my interests and skills.

This summer I also worked on various operational marketing tasks with team members in France, Germany, Mexico, UAE, and locally here in Finland to assist with events, marketing content, data analysis, and brainstorming on different topics. As Airbus has a large portfolio of solutions and business units, it takes some time to understand how your team fits into the whole operation. But once you catch on, it's really interesting to become familiar with the vast number of teams and resources that you can collaborate with in your work.”

“I’ve mostly been writing and running automation tests, but my tasks vary. I´m also working to improve the testing environment we have and working on solutions like Tactilon Agnet. I can see how my work makes a real impact.

I didn’t have much practical experience working in software development before I joined Airbus. Most of my previous knowledge came from university courses. I’m studying computer science at Jyväskylä University, and I’m pleasantly surprised by how relevant the knowledge I’ve gained from school is for my work.

I have also been positively surprised by the people at Airbus. I am getting to know other trainees here in Jyväskylä and we have fun as a team. We share our trainee experiences and regularly have lunch together. I’ve actually made friends here, which was not something I expected.”

"Combining work and studies has been easy for me. I worked full time during summer and part time during school semesters. I can freely choose how many hours I work which gives me flexibility to focus on my studies. I luckily also got the opportunity to write my thesis for the company, so working part-time has been student friendly. 

This is my first job in the Information technology field and Airbus with its trainee program is the perfect career kick off. My daily tasks include developing CI workflows, maintaining the unit testing tools, and correcting bugs reported by other developers. The main languages I use at work are C++, Python, and Groovy. Right from the start, my team let me manage my own tasks that I was responsible for, and the implementation was fully in my hands. 

 I simply love Airbus’ relaxed working atmosphere and the fact that I have a lot of freedom at work. Feedback and open communication are very important to me, that’s why I really appreciate the feedback I get on my work. Getting compliments is always nice, but when I get a good code review, I know what can be improved in my code and what has gone well. Code reviews are time consuming, but thanks to my team members who take their time to go through it with me I can improve my skills even further."

"My employment at Airbus has been a joyful ride. I started working in the supply chain team and my tasks have shifted from reverse logistics to project delivery, meaning that I’m now handling customer orders and all the practicalities related to it. I had the possibility to affect the direction my role evolved towards which was great. 

At Airbus I’ve been given room to grow and I’ve been supported by my manager and my peers. That has really helped me to tackle all job tasks, and to really challenge myself. When you are trusted and helped out you really start to learn more and you dare to take on new tasks. They might seem challenging at first but they also accelerate your learning curve, which has been very steep and also very rewarding. 

Working as a trainee at Airbus is not only a summer job, it is an investment in your future since there are possibilities to build a career within the company."

"One of the best things about my trainee period was the learning curve & space that the company gave me to build and do things. I was encouraged from the start to work on different tasks, try different fixes, see what works and then go on to more complex tasks. I had no idea I would get to learn this much in such a short time. 

The biggest takeaway from the time as a trainee was definitely the whole automation part. I got to see the entire automation pipeline and work with different teams that enabled me to see software development in a bigger picture. I also took the initiative to ask a lot of questions and meet different people from different departments. I have always been an active learner in my free time as well, and that helped me a lot in this position. 

What I´d say to someone considering applying for this position and the trainee program is to keep an open mind. The main thing that I have noticed is that if you are proactive and self-guided, you can kind of build your own tasks and that´s a really big perk. You need independence in the position, since there are often situations when you need help and you then need to contact people to figure it out. Also, if you are like me, and like taking notes when you come across something new, make sure to have pens and papers around."

"The thing that has made the biggest impression on me is that the job ad about the role was very accurate in describing what this traineeship would offer. My expectations were aligned with the team from the start and it has given me tremendous insight and experience in HR and communications. Without having previous experience from the field, I was encouraged to ask as many questions as I came up with, and there was always someone willing to answer with thought.

As time has passed, and the routine work has become familiar, I’ve had the opportunity to guide my job and tasks according to my interests. Recruitments were something I knew I wanted to learn more about from the start: as someone who has always been a little nervous in job interviews, it's been great sitting on the other side, understanding the process and being able to make the experience as good as possible for the candidates.

Other than that, I’ve been able to utilize the skills I’ve gained before, such as tutoring at university, and really taking it one step further by organizing the events for the trainees during the summer, and the Bring Your Child to Work- day in November.

As many of the other trainees have said, I too have learned technical skills, but even more than that, I’ve learned how to manage projects, how and when to ask for help, and how to bring the new knowledge from university to the practical side in working life."

"Honestly, it’s kind of my childhood dream to work for Airbus, and that's why I initially applied. My role is also very fitting with my studies of International Design Business Management. Basically I'm usually given a very broad brief, and then I’ll just start thinking of how to approach the topic or how I can contribute to the project. Most of my work is to do with data analysis and governance, in other words, helping other business analysts to gather data and come up with a strategy to analyze and consolidate it. I deal with qualitative data most of the time, and I’m responsible for organizing it so, that it can be presented in a way that is easy for people within my team and also outside the team to understand and utilize in their work.

A thing that surprised me was that I assumed that trainees mainly do administrative tasks, but I’m actually involved in many important and prioritized projects and I even get to advise people. People actually respect my opinions and advice. Even the highly experienced people in my team really want to hear what I have to say and actually take it into consideration. It's a big responsibility but it also gives you a sense of accomplishment.

My manager is very open-minded and someone I have a lot to learn from. I really appreciate the chance to work with her. She gives me a lot of space to figure out the best approach to do things. She encourages new ideas, new ways of working and is really open to what we all have to say. It’s nice to feel like you can actually contribute."