Without WDR, Johannes Decker would probably never have got into milling. “I found out about a vacant apprenticeship as a miller in Gelsenkirchen through the WDR 2 apprenticeship campaign,” the former DMSB student recalls. At the time, he was looking for a craft trade with a technical background, where issues such as quality management and customer service also play a role. “The miller’s profession seemed to me to be the perfect fit – and in practice, this decision proved to be the right one.
After two years as a journeyman, Johannes Decker wanted to enhance his skills, broaden his horizons, and position himself to take on leadership responsibilities. “At the DMSB Open Day, I then obtained further information and had valuable conversations with students and teachers. This first-hand information made the whole educational course transparent and really appealed to me.” In the end, he gained all the qualifications that the school offers: plant engineering, process engineering, master miller’s examination and feedstuff certificate, among others.
“I wanted to give myself as many opportunities as possible,” he says, explaining his learning path. “And in the end, that’s exactly what paid off, because I switched from milling to plant engineering after graduating.” After holding a few positions, Johannes Decker now works at agritec GmbH, where he designs and builds plants for storing, cleaning, and maintaining the health of cereals. These are located directly on the farms of agricultural enterprises. “Basically, we are the general contractor, we then subcontract the actual construction work.” In a few years he will take over the company; he is already a co-partner and general manager.
It was the DMSB that enabled him to pursue this career, because he would not have made the switch to plant construction just based on his apprenticeship. He still keeps in touch with Braunschweig, for example as a member of the booster club and of the board of the Lippe-NRW regulars of the “Glück zu” fraternity. “The DMSB network is important to me and I am keen on getting involved in it,” Decker explains. As an employer, he now benefits from the school in another sense as well: “Of course I prefer to hire DMSB graduates, because I know they have the necessary skills.” A DMSB technician from a more recent graduating class also started working for him.
