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Street attendant Sophie Sommer with her tractor: "The job can be quite tough."
Photo: private
The start into working life is exciting, exhausting - and often completely different than planned. In the series “My first year in the job”, young professionals tell how they experienced this time. This time: Sophie Sommer, 23, works in a road maintenance depot of the Lower Saxony state authority.
“As a toddler, I rode my parents' ride-on lawnmower, and as a six-year-old I rode through the area with a children's quad. Now, as a road attendant, I have my own little tractor. I use it to drive along cycle paths, check for damage or obstacles, cut back bushes, mow the lawn and remove weeds.
After graduating from secondary school, I began training as a carpenter. But in my company the furniture was sawed and built with large automated machines, which had little to do with manual labor. I had imagined the job to be completely different. At a job fair, someone gave me a flyer from a road maintenance depot. Being outside a lot, working in a team and doing something different every day - that sounded good, so I applied spontaneously. First I got an internship, then an apprenticeship, right in my hometown.
I was allowed to lend a hand right from the start.
My road maintenance department is responsible for urban roads as well as district, state and federal roads within a radius of around 360 kilometers.
The tasks differ depending on the season.
Now in winter we cut back the trees and clean the water retention basins at the roadside.
We mend smaller potholes ourselves with an asphalt mixture; we hire an external company for larger ones.
As the first woman in the road maintenance department
During my training, I got a truck driver's license, as well as the one for chainsaws, forklifts and excavators.
I like to be in charge of big machines.
I also learned a lot about green maintenance, the materials used in road construction, and a lot of math.
In the road maintenance department, some colleagues were initially a little skeptical of me.
I was the very first street guard there and I'm only 1.60 meters tall.
They probably asked themselves if I could do it, because the work is quite difficult physically.
They are now happy to have me there.
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I am often out and about all day long, but that doesn't bother me.
I listen to music, sometimes I meet my colleagues and we take a break together.
Work starts at seven in the morning in winter and at six in summer.
When snow has to be pushed or a fallen tree lies on a country road, you can work until four in the morning.
My colleagues and I are on duty for one week in turn.
Then you take a work cell phone home with you and the police can call them at any time - for example if an oil trail has to be removed.
Always out on the streets
When you're used to it, the cold doesn't bother you that much anymore.
Sometimes I go for a walk with my family in winter and everyone is very thickly wrapped up except for me.
In my job you are always on the move.
I can't even imagine working in an office.
My employer is the Lower Saxony state authority for road construction and transport, which is why I am paid for the public service according to the collective agreement.
In my pay group, I currently earn around 2760 euros gross basic salary for 38.5 hours per week.
There are also around 100 euros in allowances, for example if I work in so much noise that I have to wear hearing protection.
I think the payment is reasonable.
And it is good to know in advance how much you will earn in a few years.
You can also move up and become a team leader, for example, but I like my work as it is now. I can imagine doing that for a lifetime. With us, our older colleagues still work outside all day. You get the more physically easier tasks. The job can still be pretty tough, and it's not without its dangers. For example, when handling a brush cutter - a brushcutter - we have to be very careful not to cut ourselves.
When I work on the side of the road, I often have spectators inside.
Sometimes they don't like what I do.
Once a cyclist stopped and stood in front of the mower of my tractor.
I would mow down the frogs!
We discussed for half an hour.
In such situations you have to stay calm.
Most of the time, however, I get positive feedback at work.
A few people have even called my boss and said: ›The girl who mows is really great!‹ «
Have you just started your career yourself and would like to tell us about it? Then write to us at SPIEGEL-Start@spiegel.de.