Less than two months have passed since the start of the first year of the one-year student internship programme at U. S. Steel Košice, and forty-six university students have already managed to establish themselves at the company, build a network of contacts and start working on projects in production or at the company's professional divisions. Getting feedback from these young people on how they perceive their stint at the company, how they do at work and whether they have fulfilled expectations was the goal of the first meeting of internees with the company's top management: the firm's President Scott Buckiso, Vice Presidents Martin Pitorák, Miroslav Kiraľvarga, Elena Petrášková, Pavol Novosad, Samir Kalra, Richard Shank and David Hathaway, and General Managers Milan Polča, Marko Salo and Martina Kaprálová, which took place on the last day of March in the auditorium.
The one-year internship programme, according to Scott Buckiso, may help the firm as well as the students, who have an opportunity to see what life at the plant is like and try it while they are still at university. "I hope that from this programme you can take away something which will help you in the future. Whether at U. S. Steel Košice or elsewhere. To us this programme is an opportunity to work with you, learn about different views on the things we do and how we do them, and also a chance to learn something from you," he said. He also confirmed that Košice's steelworks needed skilled and skilful people for unfilled positions. "The fact that we have been, still are and will be successful in the future is primarily thanks to our people, who are the company's most important asset. They do an exceptional job, whether in production or management positions. We have an amazing team here in Košice, we communicate with universities and schools to find the best, who we hope will eventually work for us." He asked the students to share their ideas about how to improve and enhance the one-year internship programme even more.
Several internees took the opportunity to ask questions. They were interested in the possibility of a seamless transfer from one-year internship to summer internship, and whether they will get a chance to work in the same plant or division, as well as in the possibility of writing their degree dissertations based on the environment in which they are working. Questions were also related to work during night shifts, work experience at the American operations of U. S. Steel, prospects for innovations and modernisation of Košice’s production lines, as well as the company President's everyday responsibilities. The meeting then continued in the form of informal conversations with the company's managers.
