New section Career Orientation”: Opportunities for Gummersbach students!

New section Career Orientation”: Opportunities for Gummersbach students!

Something exciting is happening in the area of ​​career orientation in the Oberberg region: At the start of the school year, the offer will be on the homepage www.obkarriere.de expanded. From August 27, 2025, a new section called “Career Orientation” will systematically list the various offers for students. The head of the planning, regional development and environment department, Frank Herhaus, highlights the useful addition: “It is important to prepare our young people as best as possible for the start of their careers.” The new section will make it possible to filter offers by region, provider and type of offer, such as “entry tools”, “career field explorations” and study inquiries.

A highlight of the new initiative is the upcoming career orientation fair OBkarriere, which will take place on September 6, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the SCHWALBE Arena in Gummersbach. Over 70 companies and institutions will offer information and discussions at their exhibition stands. Ulrich Koch, managing director of the Oberberg employers' association, praises the cooperation of everyone involved, while District Administrator Jochen Hagt, patron of the trade fair, emphasizes the importance of recruiting young talent.

Diverse offerings for students

The OBCareer is aimed primarily at secondary school students and offers free career orientation services, which are organized by the municipal coordination office in cooperation with the TH Cologne - Campus Gummersbach. This event is an excellent opportunity for prospective graduates with a vocational qualification and a high school diploma to find out about their training and study prospects.

The trade fair will not only include exhibition stands, but also a series of workshops that offer helpful insights into, for example, the application process or everyday student life at the TH Campus Gummersbach. New this year is the action corner in the hall, where practical insights into various apprenticeships are given. The organizers are confident that the trade fair will be a great success.

Career orientation – more than just a trade fair

But the OB career is only part of a larger whole. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the educational chains initiative in 2010 to support young people entering professional life and to counteract the shortage of skilled workers. This initiative promotes early and systematic career orientation that helps young people achieve school qualifications and start their training safely. Programs such as the potential analysis in the 7th grade and the practice-oriented career orientation days in the 8th grade support them in discovering their talents and strengths.

Young people receive about this Career orientation program numerous tools at hand to successfully master the transition from school to work. In addition to internships, this also includes information platforms such as Career Avis and special offers for people with a migrant background.

The OBkarriere fair and the new section on www.obkarriere.de are not only contemporary approaches, but also urgently necessary steps to support future generations in their career decisions. The Municipal Coordination Office team will be happy to provide any further information. are contact personsAndrea Kasbach(Tel. 02261 88-6825, email: andrea.kaesbach@obk.de) andThomas Langenbach(Tel. 02261 88-6824, email: thomas.langenbach@obk.de).