Elkem technical trainee program: An enriching journey across the world

About three months before the Gaokao, China’s college entrance exam and one of the most important exams in a Chinese student’s life, I found out that I had an opportunity to go to France to study. During my studies, I had the chance to intern with Elkem’s Silicones division in France. I was initially attracted by its complicated but well-designed process. After learning more about Elkem’s other divisions, its Health-, Safety-, and Environment- (HSE) system “FORUS”, and Elkem’s Business System (EBS), my interest in the company and the opportunity to start my career in Elkem as a process engineer grew. Luckily, there was an opening to join the technical trainee program after I graduated. Since I had already left China for France to study, it was a decision I carefully considered because it meant accepting the challenges of being separated from family and friends while also getting used to a new environment. Despite the challenges, I’m glad I joined the program.

The two-year journey of the trainee program began with a week and a half of onboarding activities in Norway. We stayed mostly in Trondheim where we received a general introduction of Elkem and visited nearby Elkem offices/labs as well as the Thamshavn plant. During the stay, I was so fascinated by the beautiful landscape and the rich history of the mining industry around the city. I frequently shared my enthusiasm about Elkem and this program with my graduating friends, encouraging them to join me. Eventually, they dubbed me “the Elkem guy”. In the other trainee blogs, my fellow trainees have also provided their unique perspectives of this onboarding week.

Returning to France, I had an amazing experience during my first rotation at the Roussillon plant. It was great working with such professional, experienced, and friendly colleagues, thanks to whom my understanding of the silicones industry have greatly improved. In addition, I got to spend time with the seven other interns in Lyon discovering food from different countries together after work.

As I am writing this blog, I am already back to the east of Eurasia, several weeks into my second outplacement in Xinghuo, China. Xinghuo is the name of the production site located in Yongxiu county of Jiangxi province in the southeast of China. Xinghuo is a very large plant within Elkem’s Silicones division. It has nearly 2,000 employees, including four production branches for both upstream and downstream processes, producing all kinds of silicones from silicon. One of the Xinghuo branches is a twin of the Roussillon plant. They share the same process and technology, which is one of the reasons why I came here. It is very interesting to see the same process running in different countries. Even though their ways of working are quite different, they are centered around the same lean business system philosophy – EBS.

While being in China, I participated in the EBS university in Zhongshan, Guangdong. It was a five-day training event to develop and strengthen employees’ skills and knowledge around Elkem’s operational philosophy. During this event I got to know so many colleagues from different positions across various divisions in China. Some participants were quite new in Elkem, like me, while, to my surprise, some had been working at Elkem for decades. Regardless of their position or seniority, everyone was so humble and kind. They were all eager to learn something new from the presentations, actively participate in the practical group work using EBS tools and make an effort to learn from each other.

Life is a journey, a journey to learn who we are. I never knew I would go to France to study, or that I would eventually join Elkem. However, it makes me excited about what happens next, and I am looking forward to my future adventure in Elkem.