When 24-year-old Julia Stepanova from Russia first laid eyes on the Gruner + Jahr building on Hamburg Harbor, she realized what it means to have signed on at Europe’s biggest publishing company."This makes you really proud of what you do," says the young woman, who is passing through several departments at the headquarters in Hamburg as an"International Country Trainee" - to be followed by three more stints in Austria, France and Italy. She already has every reason to be proud of herself, as she completed her degree in"Linguistics and Intercultural Communications" at the age of 22. After that, Julia Stepanova, who speaks fluent German and English, worked as the assistant to the managing director of G+J in Moscow. It soon became clear that the dedicated young woman was capable of more. And so G+J Russia’s managing director sent her to Hamburg as a trainee. She describes her expectations of the trainee program as follows:"I want to learn as much as possible. At the moment I only have a hunch of how things work here. In Moscow, approximately 100 people work at G+J. Here in Hamburg, there are more than 2,000. This is an entirely new dimension." Her dream job in Moscow would be as publishing director of a magazine or a group of magazines. But at this point of course she has no idea where she will ultimately end up.

Swantje Brümmer, who is in charge of trainees at G+J, points out that international trainees are chosen by the international offices themselves:"These are young people who have proven themselves on the job and are now going a step further." In Germany, junior staff for the"International Corporate Trainee" program are selected in a slightly different process. During the 18-month program, participants are systematically prepared for an international career at G+J. This involves training at all the important publishing departments in Hamburg, followed by two six-month stints at two international G+J offices."Business English and perfect fluency in another language are essential. Ideally, applicants will have grown up bilingual," says Brümmer about the preconditions to participate in the popular program.

Oliva Zumft Cortines, easily meets these requirements: her mother is Spanish. 25-year-old Oliva studied international business in Madrid, Florence and Reutlingen. She gained first experiences in publishing during a traineeship with the management of G+J’s living and housing magazines. Her assessment of the trainee program:"The various stations are different pieces in a jigsaw that lead you to the big picture. You build up a personal network and learn how the various markets differ from each other."

Both trainees are very taken with the positive atmosphere at G+J."You can tell that people enjoy their work and that they believe in their job and their products," says Oliva Zumft Cortines. Her Russian colleague agrees:"There is an atmosphere of openness here. It matches the company’s location on Hamburg’s harbor: you can feel the freedom that reigns here." The two executives-in-training share this positive assessment of G+J as an employer with the overwhelming majority of employees in the Magazine Division Germany. In a survey, 85 percent of all respondents indicated they would choose G+J as an employer again. 91 percent feel that G+J has a positive image, and 83 percent are very satisfied or satisfied with the products created by their department. G+J strives to further promote international exchange. Dr. Jürgen Althans, Vice President of HR Development, points out that:"Although media are culturally bound by their very nature, we can learn a lot from each other – both in the editorial teams and in the publishing departments."

- Two months abroad as part of the regular 14-month trainee program for all trainees
The International Country Trainee Program: Participants: Trainees from the international G+J offices; Program: six months in the home country, four months in Hamburg, four months in another country (breakdown may differ from case to case)
-International Corporate Trainee Program: Participants: Trainees from Germany; Program: six months in Germany, six months each in two other countries
-Cooperation with the Hamburg Media School (HMS): Internships abroad for HMS masters students at G+J offices
-G+J Transfer: Incentive program; Participants: Executives; Program: two to four weeks of abroad postings at a G+J branch
-G+J Exchange: Abroad posting for junior staff seeking an international career and exchange of experience; Program: six to twelve months at a G+J branch abroad