Merck is the oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company in the world. Its roots date back to the year 1668. Mercks history began when Friedrich Emanuel Merck bought a pharmacy in the city of Darmstadt. Today it operates worldwide with 50000 employees in 66 countries. Its divisions are Life Science, Health Care and Performance Materials and Merck is market leader in the area of liquid crystals.The portfolio involves medicine, functional pigments and decorative pigments as well as laboratory equipment and services. Because of its worldwide orientation, Merck needs capable and flexible employees, who perform their tasks with high motivation and engagement. Merck supports this demand by already sending apprentices abroad since 2002. Within the last project, 39 apprentices had the possibilty of a short-term assingment between 3 and 6 months duration within the countries Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. Mostly the aprrentices were placed in Merck subsidiaries, some also in different universities. Having organised the project for so many years established a great and trustful network between the partners and the project leader in Darmstadt. During the assingment our trainees received a project to work on or supported the employees in their daily work. While their stay abroad, the apprentices were supported and guided by local supervisors. The main reason for running short term assignments for apprentices is besides enriching their language skills, building up an international network at a very early stage and also getting to know different ways of working and also develop intercultural skills. By offering these assignemts Merck develops very young employees. This results in more self-confident and open minded employees, higher ability to work in international teams, increased identification with company, high flexibility and higher willingness to perform. The project also has a strong external impact. It became an essential module of our apprenticeship at Merck which arises in a continiously rising number of assignments.