Jobs and career

In Germany, about 100,000 people work in the field of rail transport. That is more or less the tenth part of the employees in the automotive industry. Nevertheless, the demand for junior employees is higher than the average, particularly regarding university graduates. The reasons include, on the one hand, the high technological level of the products and the services, which is why the sought-after employees are those that master the newest development and production technologies. On the other hand, the number of university graduates in this discipline remains low, so the chances of an interesting and demanding position are excellent.

The development and production of rail vehicles and the operation of a corresponding transport system is far more complex than in the automotive field. In contrast, the number of manufactured units is significantly lower and that is why fewer developers are involved in a certain vehicle series. Similar to the aircraft industry, the individual employees are put in charge of a wide area of responsibility very early in their careers, which is the reason for the varying character of this profession.

At the IFS we are in contact with almost all vehicle and component manufacturers of the sector, as well as many operators. Many of our projects are carried out in cooperation with or under contract to these companies. This network makes it possible for us to find interesting internships - also abroad - for our students and to give first-hand information about interesting job offers in the industry to our graduates.

An additional stay of about 5 years at the university as research assistant with the objective of obtaining a doctoral degree increases significantly the chances to have a successful career in the sector. The students can gain experience in the everyday life of a research institute already during their studies by working as a student assistant.

In the field of conveyor technology between 120,000 and 200,000 people are employed depending on the classification criteria. In particular, the field of intralogistics has experienced a boom in recent years, triggered by the internet-based mail-order trade. The sector offers the graduates a lot of positions with demanding tasks mostly in medium-sized companies.

The IFS is in contact with some manufacturers of conveyor equipment. We are able to provide information about internships and vacancies also in this sector.

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