Florian Thurner of ND Projects GmbH in our interview about the University of Klagenfurt Technology Scholarships

Florian Thurner, Managing Director of ND Projects GmbH talked with us about the good cooperation in the scope of the University of Klagenfurt Technology Scholarships programme and the ways scholarship holders can benefit from an internship at ND Projects GmbH.

AAU is very grateful that ND Projects GmbH has recognized the potential of the Technology Scholarships programme from the very beginning and was willing to support it and offer internship opportunities to scholarship holders. What has been the motivation behind the support and which potential did you see in this scholarship initiative?

In the IT industry, and especially in Carinthia, we face the challenge of recruiting enough qualified young people in software development. With this cooperation we have the opportunity to give students an insight into our work and our daily routine as software developers already during their studies. This helps the students in their orientation and gives them the opportunity to find out whether the job can be interesting for them in the medium to long term.

Thanks to the Technology Scholarships programme, many qualified and motivated students from all over the world have been able to take up studies at AAU and start internships at local ICT companies. From your perspective as a managing director in a company that is part of the Carinthian labour market, why should a company participate in the Technology Scholarships programme by sponsoring scholarships and offering internships?

Long-term retention of employees is very important in our complex software solution, which involves a long training phase. Therefore, the cooperation gives us, as an employer, the opportunity to get to know the interns as potential future employees and to have a sound basis for decision-making after the internship, how the candidates fit into the team and how a cooperation can look like after the end of their studies.

During the first matching event organised in the scope of the Technology Scholarships programme in December 2019, you met a highly qualified female scholarship holder and a student of Informatics master’s degree programme at AAU. She started her internship at ND Projects GmbH shortly after. Today, two years later, she is a full-time employee with the company. Can you describe us this path from your perspective?

With Ms. Nadja Dardagan we have found an excellent, dedicated employee who has become an important part of our development department. After she was able to familiarize herself with our software as an intern and supported various projects and teams, we were able to take her on as a full-time employee. In the meantime, she has acquired her own areas of responsibility and is active in the team that is responsible for the development of our standard solution.

Due to our strong growth, we are constantly hiring new employees and interns, so our experienced employees also increasingly have the task of providing technical guidance to new colleagues and leading teams or projects.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the field of expertise of ND Projects GmbH and in which particular ways scholarship holders would be benefiting from an internship at ND Projects GmbH?

As a Microsoft partner, we sell an ERP industry solution specialized for the construction industry and accompany our customers from the initial training to the start of operations, thus helping our customers to optimize and digitize their processes. With an internship, students can gain their first practical experience on what it is like to work in a development team and also learn to take on initial responsibility. Through the software basis Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the interns can position themselves in a future-proof and innovative software area and establish themselves there in the long term.

 Thank you very much for providing us with your valuable expertise. Lastly, we would be glad to offer you the opportunity to share your thoughts on the Technology Scholarships programme with everyone who might be interested in it, and kindly ask if there is anything you would like to add from your side?

We are convinced that with this programme we can offer potential applicants, in addition to a very attractive location, an interesting and varied job with great development opportunities. Within the Alps-Adriatic region, we offer one of the world’s most attractive locations where you can perfectly combine living and working.