“And what do you want to be when you grow up?”—This question, which was already being asked of young people decades ago, has lost none of its relevance. On the contrary, the answers are no clearer today: more degree programs, more training opportunities, but not necessarily more clarity among young people. To change that, Steinmühle holds a career information day every November. The event is organized by Steinmühle teacher Dr. Claudia Röder, the career guidance coordinator, and Hans-Heinrich Bähr from the career services department of the Rotary Club Marburg-Schloss.

Once again, many professionals from a wide variety of fields had agreed to answer questions from the 11th-grade students about their career paths and their work. In three 20-minute discussion sessions, the young people were able to ask their favorite experts anything that was on their minds: How do you secure a spot in a psychology program? What should you expect if you want to enter the IT industry? “How do you become a professional politician?” These were ultimately the questions asked most frequently, reflecting which careers were the most in demand that evening. However, the representative from the German Armed Forces drew the most interest by far. Not a single career field went without questions.

Politicians also answered questions

“We are pleased to be able to host this information evening again,” said Dr. Claudia Röder, noting the lively discussions that took place. “I am particularly pleased that we were able to have representatives from the political sphere join us.” Local state legislator Dirk Bamberger (CDU) and Marburg Mayor Nadine Bernshausen (Alliance 90/The Greens) were on hand to participate in the discussions. Nadine Bernshausen also represented the legal profession.

“I found it very interesting,” Benjamin Schul said at the end of the event. He had had an in-depth conversation with a representative from a consulting firm and could now envision a career as a self-employed professional after completing his business administration degree. Melissa Mägerlein was impressed by the information provided by the German Armed Forces: “We learned about the degree programs available through the German Armed Forces and, most importantly, received concrete offers for a camp or an internship. That was very helpful.” Emilia Ouaissa had inquired about the details of a career in politics and working as a psychologist. “It was very interesting for me because I was able to get truly neutral and balanced information.” Chiara Rector had focused on the Bundeswehr and medicine; she found the information on both topics to be sound and the explanation of the career path and duration of study to be comprehensive. Tom Beyer explained that he had used the evening to rule out some options: “I was able to get an idea of what isn’t really for me.”

Some of the students would have liked a little more time at the career information evening—either to go into more detail with their preferred speaker or to learn more about another career field. Lauritz Kleine, an 11th grader, said, “Holding five rounds of discussions instead of three—that might be a suggestion.”

At the career information evening, which was opened by Principal Björn Gemmer, the following professions and fields were represented: Attorney, judge, business graduate/managing director, physician, psychologist, psychological psychotherapist/child and adolescent psychotherapist, dentist, tax consultant/certified public accountant, physicist, management consultant/business administration studies, information technology, savings bank/finance, career politician, member of parliament, Authorized signatory, medical school without admission restrictions, German Armed Forces, pharmacist, voluntary social service year, journalism.

“Only you know what career is right for you.” – The “Mutmacher” team conveyed this encouraging and confident message to the 11th-grade class. The Mutmacher are members of a startup focused on modern career guidance, based in Karlsruhe and active in schools across various German states. Following their debut last year, the young people returned to Steinmühle for the second time to help the students—who are only slightly younger than they are—develop career prospects.

The overwhelming number of options for what to do after graduating from high school is offset by a rather sobering reality: One in three students drops out of college, and 150,000 apprenticeships were terminated early in 2019 alone. To ensure that the supposed dream job doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare, the motivational speakers recommended exploring one’s own criteria for a dream job: What will be important to me in my future career? A lot of money? Social recognition? Plenty of free time? A fulfilling job? Regular working hours? Working in a team or alone? The team of speakers advised the students to first gain clarity on these and other points. Together with their own strengths—which were assessed in a workbook and discussed in pairs—each student had the opportunity to develop a rough idea of where their journey might lead after graduating from high school.

Annerose Glöckner, the Steinmühlen liaison at the Federal Employment Agency, described the Mutmacher event as “very helpful and practical.” “There is a path for everyone—even for those who don’t have a specific career in mind.”

The Mutmacher crew pointed out how important it is to develop self-confidence in order to be able to pursue the chosen path with determination: “At school, self-confidence is usually linked to grades. If you do well, you’re self-confident—and vice versa. However, the currency of the future is gaining self-confidence regardless of grades.” But self-confidence also means standing by your own limits. “That’s not so easy in a world where it’s a breeze to put on a mask.”

The morning event with the “Mutmacher” (Encouragers), who can be found on Instagram at @meinmutigerweg, was organized by Dr. Claudia Röder, who is in charge of career guidance at Steinmühle.