Among the top 10 graduates: We congratulate Roger Merz on successfully completing his apprenticeship!

From Corina Köchli on 11. August 2020

Roger Merz started his internship at our company in October 2018 as part of his second apprenticeship as a software developer. In the meantime, he has successfully completed his apprenticeship. With his final grade of 5.8 and his IPA grade of 5.9 he is among the top 10 graduates in the canton of Zurich. We are very proud of his performance and are looking forward to having him on our team!

In a short interview he tells us about his apprenticeship and his individual practical application (IPA).

Roger, I congratulate you on your successful graduation! Did you expect to be among the top 10 graduates in the canton of Zurich?

Thanks a lot! No, I did not expect that, but I am very happy about it!

You did a second apprenticeship, why did you do that?

I needed a reorientation. After my first completed apprenticeship as a draughtsman specialised in building construction, I did not see any big future opportunities for me personally. In other words, there were few opportunities for promotion or career advancement in this profession that interested me. That's why I wanted something new, a profession that really interests me and makes me happy. So, I decided to do something in IT programming has always interested me, but unfortunately, I didn't know much about it. That is what I wanted to change.

So, from the building construction to a completely different area. Was this decision worthwhile?

Yeah, definitely. I'd do it again immediately. I have now found a profession that I really enjoy.

Those must have been two challenging years of apprenticeship?

Yes, it's been two tough but very educating years. Balancing work, school and free time was certainly a challenge. This was not always easy, because in addition to my workload of 80 percent, I had school twice a week in the evening and a whole day at school. Looking back, I can say that it was very challenging, but also taught me a lot.

As an IPA, you did a monitoring solution, tell us more about this project.

I enjoyed the IPA despite the unusual conditions due to Corona. It was a big project and included the development of the back- and frontend. So, it was a great opportunity to show what I learned during my internship at Razoon AG.

That sounds like a challenge! What challenged you the most?

The biggest challenge was the amount of work and the integration of all components, in other words between the front and back end. I didn't have to concentrate on just one of the two components, but needed to develop both. This also meant that I had to use two programming languages; C# for the backend and Typescript for the frontend.

The IPA has certainly taught you something for the future? What do you take with you?

Absolutely. The IPA has shown me the importance of good planning. It always helps you to keep the orientation and the big picture.

How do you look back on your internship at Razoon AG?

I look back on two interesting years. I enjoyed the internship very much and Razoon AG is an excellent employer. I was fully integrated into the various jobs and could take part in everything. The work was always varied and was not limited to routine work. The team atmosphere is great and thanks to the experienced of the employees I was able to learn a lot.

We have talked a lot about the past, what comes next?

I will continue to work for Razoon AG as a software developer. I am very pleased about that. Now I want to concentrate on my work and gain professional experience. But I can well imagine to study computer science in the future.

Thank you very much for your time and all the best for the future!