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European Vocational Skills Week
News article30 July 2019Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Why I chose VET…

Why I chose VET

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is open to everyone. VET has been increasing in popularity as a first choice for young people and adults to ‘discover their talent’, and learn skills for life.

European Vocational Skills Week is dedicated to raising the awareness of VET. Last year’s campaign saw over 2.4 million participants throughout all events and activities. This year is set to be bigger and better. Keep up to date with events and activities on our event map.

Domenico, Anna and Oliver all chose VET as the path to their chosen career. This article focuses on how VET helped them to achieve their aspirations.

VET changed my life

‘It completely changed my life because this apprenticeship meant that I could visit a lot of places, to meet a lot of people, who gave me a lot of confidence.’ - Domenico Calabrese

Domenico Calabrese chose to work as an apprentice electrician, as he felt he could learn more from an apprenticeship than from school.

After all his hard work and effort, Domenico has since won the 2018 European Alliance for Apprenticeships award.

Suitable for both employer and employee

‘I truly recommend becoming an apprentice to anyone who wants to improve themselves during working life!’ - Anna Mäkipää

After graduating, Anna Mäkipää gained employment as the Secretary General in the National Union of Vocational Students in Finland. That is when she realised she could extend her studies. She pursued a special qualification in management and business, and an apprenticeship. ‘It was suitable for both me and my employer’.

Anna is now employed in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions as the Regional Union Organiser.

Sculpting a new career out of chocolate

‘Figuring out what my passion was with chocolate, it gave me this kind of ability, to create stuff and work more with my hands.’ - Oliver Van Nueten

For Oliver Van Nueten, food was always a passion but when it came to making a career out of it, he wasn’t sure. Oliver chose VET as he was attracted to practical learning rather than theoretical training. He enrolled at a specialist school for baking.

Oliver turned his hobby into a job and is now making sculptures out of chocolate in Belgium. He demonstrated his skills at European Vocational Skills Week 2018, in Vienna.

To read more about why people have chosen VET, visit our success stories page. You can also view highlights and interviews from previous European Vocational Skills Week campaigns on our multimedia page.

If you want to begin your own journey into VET, why not look at what is going on in this year’s European Vocational Skills Week? Read more about the campaign in our news item.

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