“Handtmann has offered me a suitable position in each phase of my life”

Michael Hammerer, Application Engineer at Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG

“I was originally supposed to take over my parents’ farm, which is why I did an apprenticeship as a butcher. But then the outlook for agriculture grew worse and worse, so I went to a training centre to learn to become a machine fitter. I had to complete my practical examination at Handtmann, which is how I learned about the company.

Handtmann has offered me a suitable position in each phase of my life. I started out as a field mechanic at Handtmann Maschinenfabrik in 1995. I commissioned, maintained and repaired our filling machines at customers across southern Germany with occasional deployments abroad. Because we supply many butchers, my two training qualifications were an ideal combination.

For my children’s sake, I wanted to stop travelling so much and so I moved over to Testing in 2005. I eventually missed the contact with customers and so I’ve been working as an application engineer since 2013. My main task is to prepare and give customer presentations. When there are bottlenecks, I also give occasional demonstrations of application technology on the customer’s premises - that’s a nice change for me.

Handtmann holds an annual appraisal, at which training and development are also discussed. For example, I can make use of the language classes in the company in order to further improve my English.

I see the future prospects at Handtmann Maschinenfabrik in very positive terms. We work in the food industry - and everybody has to eat, don’t they? During the economic crisis in 2008, things were a little more difficult, but the company continued to push ahead with development at that time in order to be able to survive on the market. That was a good sign for me.

It’s important for me that the job fits me and is fun. Enjoying going to work in the morning matters to me even more than the pay. At Handtmann, I’ve found just such a position.”