On 27 August, DIHK Managing Director Helena Melnikov (4th from the right in the image above) and the Managing Director of the IHK Berlin, Manja Schreiner (5th from the right), participated in the training of Berlin vocational training ambassadors. These ambassadors are apprentices themselves who inform students about their professions and the opportunities that vocational training opens up.

Together with ambassadors from companies in various sectors such as ASML Berlin GmbH, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Deutschland GmbH, Hilton Berlin, Oskar Böttcher GmbH & Co. KG, and WBM Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Berlin-Mitte mbH, they promoted vocational training paths. They also highlighted the opportunities vocational education offers for career progression. The ambassadors shared practical insights from their everyday work in professions such as precision mechanic, industrial clerk, chef, hotel specialist, wholesale and foreign trade clerk, and real estate clerk.

Melnikov: Encounters of inestimable value

Helena Melnikov said: "These ambassadors give young people authentic insights into the professional world and share firsthand experiences from their training. Their enthusiasm can encourage curiosity and inspire students to take the first step along their career path. They speak not about abstract theory but about what they personally experience every day. This makes them particularly credible contacts. For effective career orientation, these encounters are of inestimable value. Together, we want to help even more students discover their strengths and embark on a successful professional future confidently. As the business sector, we will continue to push these efforts forward with politicians and unions as part of the Alliance for Education and Training."

Schreiner: Ambassadors help with orientation

Manja Schreiner added: "In Berlin alone, we currently have about 6,000 vacant training positions. At the same time, many adolescents are still looking for a training place yet are not connecting. The problem lies with orientation and matching. Our ambassador project addresses exactly this. These ambassadors reach young people on equal footing, speaking their language, as they belong to the same age group and are themselves undergoing training. This is a pivotal mechanism to get more adolescents in Berlin interested in the dual training system."

Loest: I want to encourage people

Vocational training ambassador Lucy Loest (real estate clerk at WBM Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Berlin-Mitte mbH) shared: "I want to show students that it's absolutely alright not to know exactly what to do after school. After graduating from high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do either. I first started studying and realised I missed the practical component – that's how I found my way to vocational training at WBM. I particularly like the balance between theory and practice, as well as the cohesion among apprentices and colleagues. As a vocational training ambassador, I want to give students confidence: You don't need to know the perfect path right away. What's important is to stay informed, gather different experiences, and remain open to new opportunities. It’s never too late to make changes and find your own path."

Information and offers

Youth can find information and vocational offers through the campaign #LearnNow: www.ausbildung-macht-mehr-aus-uns.de

Additionally, there are numerous support and consulting services available through the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK) on-site to simplify and guide the initiation process – for example, the IHK Berlin.

Photos from the event can be downloaded here.(c) DIHK / Hans-Christian Plambeck