In 2004 Osman Yildirim finished secondary school and then took a vocational orientation year with the assistance of the employment office at Berufsförderungszentrum. He then had the opportunity to complete internships in various fields. That he chose a leather factory is due to the fact that his father and several friends worked at Bader.

Fascinated by the art of leather making, he decided to start a vocational training course in tanning and successfully applied to Bader, a full cycle tannery that produces quality automotive leather from bovine hides.

He attended the Kerschensteinerschule vocational school in Reutlingen with technical training blocks at Lederinstitut Gerberschule Reutlingen and successfully completed his scholarship as a tanner in 2009.

He admits that he did not initially fully recognise the complexity of tanning. Now,with more experience, he enjoys the diversity of his job.

After graduating, he joined Bader as an apprentice tanner and worked in different departments. Two years ago he was promoted to head the dyeing department, proof of how good and fast career prospects are for a dedicated tanner. Yildirim was also promoted by his company after getting training to become a master and leather technician through distance learning with the Filk Research Institute. His energy, capacity at learning continuously and constantly, makes him aware that more opportunities for advancement, for instance as manager, are only possible with appropriate qualifications.

As dyeing supervisor, his most important responsibility is to ensure a consistent colour quality. A major challenge is that, as a biological raw material, each skin is unique and different raw materials behave very differently in dyeing.

What he most likes about the job is working with a natural product and achieving the desired quality and the team spirit and cooperation of various departments. That makes him proud to be a tanner. Passionate about his work, he could not imagine doing any other job.