Berufsmesse Zürich: Why young people visit trade fairs

When the Berufsmesse Zürich takes place from November 19 to 23, it will do so as the first port of call for school graduates choosing a career. The Messe Zürich will be transformed into an interactive hotspot for all apprenticeship seekers and those hungry for education. 240 apprenticeships and various continuing education opportunities will be on display at Switzerland's largest career fair.

Too few apprenticeships in the future?

There are many myths circulating around the so-called Millennials generation: they would only communicate digitally, they are spoiled, they are effeminate ("snowflakes"), they no longer have an attention span. Thomas Hess (pictured), Managing Director of KMU- und Gewerbeverband Kanton Zürich KGV, takes a more nuanced view: "Each generation is very different, but also very similar. The differences simply show up in the way we communicate with each other. In the past, perhaps the telephone or the break area was the place of famous community building, but today there are new channels for this. But there are also commonalities. That young people need to be integrated into society, for example. That's only possible with an economy with good training companies. It's important to emphasize how well this process is going in Switzerland. At the moment, there are more apprenticeships than trainees in the canton of Zurich. But that could change in six to seven years. Demographic trends may mean that there will be fewer apprenticeships than apprenticeship seekers. That will be a big challenge to be able to offer enough apprenticeships."

Combining digitization and analogization

Training as a paramedic - is that still a good choice in this age of automation? Or does the chimney sweeping profession still have a future? The big challenge is to combine digitization and automation with tradition so that these professions remain exciting. This year's edition of the career fair focuses on precisely this topic. The plastics technologist apprenticeship will be presented for the first time. 

What does a young person or education-seeking adult miss out on who doesn't go to the career fair? "He misses an opportunity to pick up countless pieces of information directly from the career professionals and apprentices in a very condensed space. And getting introduced to an industry, that's irreplaceable for young people. The Internet can't do that," says Thomas Hess.

Tackling desired

Over the years, the career fair has become an integral part of career guidance. On 5,000 square meters, in one place, you get an overview of numerous professions. At the booths of the professional associations, the druggists, the carpenters' association and many others, hands-on work is also required: at the carpenters' association, carpentry is done, at the druggists' association, rheumatism ointment is produced. You can't do that on the Internet. 
In order to get young people interested in the electrical industry, the Zurich Electrical Association (KZEI) will be showing 5 experience rooms on the professions of electrical installer, installation electrician, telematics technician, electrical planner and network planner, among others. 

And what has to happen for Thomas Hess to say that the 2019 career fair was a success? "I am satisfied if we can support young people in the difficult decision of choosing a profession. But it's also important to us that the exhibitors, mostly professional associations, can present themselves in a good light, because they do, after all, take on considerable resources to talk to the young people here."

The Berufsmesse Zürich is organized by the KMU- und Gewerbeverband Kanton Zürich KGV and MCH Messe Zürich. The sponsors of the Berufsmesse Zürich include the Zürcher Kantonalbank, the Vocational Training Fund of the Canton of Zürich and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.