DS Smith at the 2016 Career and Education Fair

The Career and Education Fair (Bildungsmesse) was held in Fulda on February 28 & 29, 2016 in the congress hotel Esperanto. The fair attracted around 12,500 visitors on both days. It was an excellent platform for DS Smith to present itself as an attractive regional employer and vocational training company as well as for young professionals to showcase their talents to potential employers.

The apprentices, trainees and dual study students from the site in Fulda informed interested pupils at the fair booth about the various vocational and study courses available. Opportunity was available to make contact with DS Smith directly and have any questions answered on a one-to-one basis.

The DS Smith booth had several highlights to attract visitors this year: The main theme was "London", the company's headquarters. Featuring a London double-decker bus made of corrugated cardboard and the After-Eight display in Big Ben style, visitors could experience the London big city feeling up close. The absolute eyecatcher was a Tower Bridge made of corrugated cardboard built by Valentina Krieger, a packaging technology trainee.

The bridge was part of a competition organised by the trainees and open to all visitors: Each visitor was asked to guess how much weight the Tower Bridge could support. To calculate the exact weight, the bridge was tested in the test centre in Mannheim, Germany. The result: The bridge could withstand an amazing 3,790 kg.

Florian Kümmel, who was the closest with his guess of 3,765 kg, was delighted to win a tandem paragliding flight over the Wasserkuppe mountain in Fulda. Heike Müller won second place with her estimate of 3,750 kg. She was pleased to receive two five-star tickets from the Cinestar cinema. Victoria Wallmann won 3rd place with her guess of 4,000 kg and received a gift box from DS Smith worth € 30. The three lucky winners were invited by DS Smith to the site in Fulda where they were awarded with their prizes and taken on a tour of the site.

Many thanks go to our trainees and students who showed a great deal of initiative and many creative ideas!