“Incredibly exciting and varied”: Legal traineeships at thyssenkrupp AG’s Compliance department

Even when he was a law student, John Cebreco knew that he wanted to think outside the legal box in terms of his future career. The Essen native was able to gain a first-hand insight into a particularly exciting, global company during his legal traineeship at thyssenkrupp – and was immediately won over. So won over, in fact, that he had his sights set on just one employer after graduation.

After taking his exams at the University of Münster, John embarked on his legal traineeship, the practical part of his training to become a qualified lawyer, in 2021. “The traineeship is split into five stages,” John explains. “The civil stage takes place at a municipal or regional court, the criminal stage at the office of a public prosecutor or criminal judge, the administrative stage at a public authority or administrative court and the legal and elective stage at a law firm or, in some cases, at a company.”

“Making a positive contribution to the company culture”

As John had been interested in economic matters from a young age, he realised early on that he wanted to combine the two disciplines of law and economics in his career. He was also attracted by the chance to conduct investigative work and make a positive contribution to the company culture. That’s why he researched companies with a strong compliance department – and struck gold when he came across thyssenkrupp.

He was more than just familiar with the industrial and technology group of companies having grown up in Essen. Indeed, John also has a familial connection to thyssenkrupp, but that wasn’t the only thing that convinced him to apply to the Essen-based company. John: “At thyssenkrupp, you can become a legal trainee either as a part of your legal traineeship or as part of an elective traineeship. And I opted for the former.” This gave John the chance to familiarise himself with many of the different career paths available to lawyers at an early stage in his legal traineeship.

Treating others with respect and humanity

John also has very positive memories of the application process: “The first interview I had after submitting my application was with the Head of Compliance Investigations,” says John. “The conversation went well: A lot of time was taken to discuss more than just the technical aspects, like the structure and the organisation of the department and current fields of activity -- we also talked about interests and hobbies. It felt like a conversation between equals, and it was this respectful, humane and confident approach that made me decide to join thyssenkrupp. As I discovered when I was a trainee and as a new hire, this is precisely the kind of interaction that underpins our daily work.”

John immediately got stuck into ongoing processes during his traineeship: In addition to research tasks, the trainee lawyer also conducted interviews and was even able to attend a court hearing for a case that he had supervised himself. “During my research, I was able to set my own priorities and use these to drive forward our core compliance work, in particular,” reports John. As a result, John was able to hit the ground running when he started his career and take on both ad-hoc investigations, e.g. those arising from a report flagged by thyssenkrupp’s whistleblowing system, as well as planned, ad-hoc compliance audits independently. He was always able to rely on the support of his team and supervisors.

Joining thyssenkrupp as a Compliance Officer

This is another reason why John would recommend thyssenkrupp to other trainee lawyers: “You get first-hand insights into a global company, get to work on exciting projects and work with fantastic colleagues.”

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that John decided to stay loyal to thyssenkrupp after completing his traineeship and joined the “Legal & Compliance Investigations” department as a Compliance Officer back in March 2023.

“The work we do in Investigations is incredibly exciting and varied. It requires you to be independent, take the initiative, persevere, act with discretion and treat others with respect. I very quickly realised that the traineeship represented an excellent opportunity for me to combine my professional and personal growth. I’m also able to put my communication skills to good use given that I’m in daily contact with colleagues from Legal & Compliance and employees working at national and international companies.”