How a new environment changes your perspective on collaboration: Pietro’s JIG experience in Hamburg

Our Jungheinrich International Graduate Programme (JIG) offers young talents the opportunity to gain practical experience in a global company, get to know different teams and develop both professionally and personally. International assignments are an important part of the program.

For Pietro Coda, this path took him from Italy to Hamburg for three months. There, he worked in a new environment, got to know new colleagues and experienced just how much international collaboration can shape day-to-day working life. “At the start, I really had to push myself and step out of my comfort zone,” says Pietro. 

 

Arrive & Get Started 

The first “Moin” – the Hamburg equivalent of “Hello” – was still unfamiliar to him, as were the new city, the people and the working practices. Yet it was precisely this initial unfamiliarity that quickly became a central part of his experience. 

“I was very quickly right in the midst of a very international environment,” says Pietro. “During coffee breaks, in conversations after work or when sharing experiences from different countries, I quickly realised what a difference genuine international collaboration makes.”

In everyday life, this developed into a continuous learning process. Different teams and working methods repeatedly led him to re-examine processes and approaches. It was precisely this mix of observing, thinking along and getting involved that permanently changed his view of collaboration. 

“I’ve learnt to make fewer assumptions and to want to understand more,” he explains. “This leads to conversations that go deeper and often result in better solutions.”

Settling into the Hanseatic city – Pietro’s key takeaways

Alongside professional insights, settling into the new environment also played a significant role. 

Small everyday situations – a chat by the coffee machine, spontaneous feedback or looking at a task from different perspectives – quickly became defining moments. “These situations are often the most valuable,” says Pietro. “They turn a new workplace into a familiar environment and show how important diversity is for shared goals.” 

Outside of work, too, Hamburg became a learning environment for him. Getting to know new habits and ways of thinking helped him not only to understand his surroundings better, but also to understand himself. Different ways of living and working encouraged reflection, flexibility and a more conscious understanding of his own strengths and opportunities for development. 

“It makes you more open-minded and teaches you to adapt to new situations more quickly,” says Pietro. “This experience has shown me how much growth comes from consciously embracing new things.” 

Thus, what began as a temporary stay turned into a formative experience that has permanently changed his perspective on collaboration and personal development. Returning to Italy, he takes one thing above all with him: that growth often arises precisely where one faces new challenges.