Status: 25.11.2023, 10:00 a.m.
By: Armin Forster
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With many giveaways and casual conversations, companies such as the Munich-based electronics company Rhode & Schwarz are trying to attract the attention of young talent and counteract the shortage of skilled workers. At the career information day of the Kastulus-Realschule in Moosburg, there was a great rush from both sides. © Albrecht
In the battle for skilled workers, companies are increasingly putting in the work. This has now become visible in some trends at the annual career information day at the Moosburg secondary school, as its organizer reports in an interview.
Moosburg – From a small school-internal training exchange, the career information day at the Kastulus secondary school in Moosburg has blossomed into a compulsory event for companies and students from several districts. After this year's edition on Tuesday, we asked the organiser, Ulrike Reichelt, chairwoman of the parents' council, to take stock – and gained interesting insights into current developments.
Ms. Reichelt, almost all industries are groaning under the shortage of skilled workers. To what extent does this affect your career information day?
When the event was launched 24 years ago, there were 15 exhibitors – this year 90. This is pushing us to the limits of our capacity. It is very clear that we currently have an applicant market: it is no longer the case that students apply to companies, but the other way around.
So the companies are running into the booth for your information day?
We had 13 new exhibitors this year. Among them, the German Patent and Trademark Office was also present, who had written to us from Munich asking if they could participate. I have the feeling that our reputation reverberates relatively far – all the way to those authorities that are having trouble filling their positions.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Were there any other abnormalities?
Yes. We are seeing a significant increase in the number of logistics companies, including day-care facilities for children and nursing homes. The appearance of a Volksbank-Raiffeisenbank was also exciting: Until now, they had only been looking for bank clerks, this year there were five professions. The trend is quite clear: companies are actively advertising. Even for an internship in the company.
The compulsory internships as part of the classroom?
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The compulsory internship is only in the 9th grade, but the trend is more and more towards taster internships as early as the 8th grade. What was also interesting was that this time we had the Office of Food, Agriculture and Forestry as an exhibitor. They advertised for housekeepers and farmers. An employee of the office told me that the proportion of people in agricultural training who do not come from farms at all is increasing and is now 30 percent. So there is a lot of interest.
Ulrike Reichelt is chairwoman of the parents' council and organized the career information day. © Archive: Hermann
Do companies draw attention to themselves differently today than they did in the past?
Yes, you can see this very clearly in the promotional gifts: There are Advent calendars from Lindt at one stand, and whole bags full of giveaways at the other. This, of course, appeals to the eighth graders. And it certainly has an effect that someone might decide to do an internship.
How does the information evening hold its own in competition with online job boards or social media campaigns?
The face-to-face conversation will not be replaced by any online medium. That's one of the most important decisions in life: What do I do after school? It is not the parents or the environment that have to decide, but the young people themselves.
Satisfying 90 exhibitors doesn't sound like an easy task either...
It's always a mega challenge to meet everyone's needs. The allocation of seats is a game of roulette. I put a lot of thought into it and mix the companies. Of course, there can't be two or three logisticians in one classroom.
How many visitors did your career information day have?
It's hard to say. But the response from the exhibitors was positive everywhere, their stands were well attended. After all, we had also invited 26 schools – from Mainburg to Freising and Erding.
Interview: Armin Forster