"For example, many students don't know what an apprenticeship in business administration involves," confirms Siebrecht. For this reason, one of the first films that went online was a portrait of Michaela, an aspiring specialist in office communication.  In the video film, Michaela is interviewed for a minute and a half by Denis and tells about her responsibilities on the job. The atmosphere is casual; the viewer receives an insight into Michaela's work and finds out something about the theory and practice of the apprenticeship and the future of this occupation.

The video film is shot without a lot of fuss and with a hand-held camera, which makes it seem very authentic, as though a good friend of Michaela's were visiting her at the office. "The students who watch these films directly in school or on the Internet appreciate hearing the opinions of real people," explains Siebrecht. "We deliberately chose to shoot from the perspective of a seemingly ignorant student," adds Verena. "That's the only way we can ask the simple questions that a student might also want to ask."

For this reason, she and Denis are not trying to find out a great deal ahead of time about the occupations they are about to depict in these portraits. "We prefer to simply ask our naïve questions, because then we're most likely to capture the students' point of view," she explains.

Siebrecht proposes the occupation to be introduced in each upcoming portrait. She's enthusiastic about the way the project has developed. Merck used to recruit new apprentices at trade fairs, in schools, and on the Internet. "But it turned out that our previous marketing strategies alone were no longer getting close enough to the target group," she says by way of explaining the background of the video film offensive, which is called Web 2.0. "This tool is now bringing us great success."

Verena's and Denis' next task is to look for their own successors, because "apprentice reporters" are hired for only a year. They themselves were selected out of numerous applicants for these positions in a casting process. They hadn't known each other before, but they've learned to work together very effectively as a team. In the process, it has become clear that Verena prefers to do the planning and Denis is better at the practical aspects. This corresponds to their natural talents, which were the basis of their own choice of occupation.