EU-CONEXUS students and staff had the opportunity to participate in a digital Erasmus Youth Exchange organized by “FFA Abenteuerzentrum Berlin”. Activate your strengths through art – “Immersing YOU(th) in the job markets of the future’’ is an ambitious Erasmus project, centered on helping young people to get to know their strengths and be able to use them for their future career plans, as well as boosting their mental health.
During the period 24.03 – 30.03.2021, 38 participants from Greece, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Romania came together in a safe virtual space, to get to know their individual strengths, self-branding, discuss the possibilities of the current and future job market in the EU, and analyze the role of social media.
One of the main goal of the project was to reflect to the current issues of employability, and to research more about the challenges and transformations of the European Job Market. As conclusions, the participants discovered that the job market is very dynamic, for the next years there will appear many new jobs for which young people will need to develop fast new skills and competences. Being flexible, building an open mindset and taking care of your mental health are ones of the most important aspects to take into consideration in order to better adapt to the transformations of the current job market.
Thinking to a healthier future, the young participants realized how important is to develop a mindset pro Sustainability. They analyzed the changes of job market from a sustainable perspective as well and realized that there are more and more sustainable businesses and strategies to fund and support these initiatives in economical and academic sectors.
In this context, EU-CONEXUS staff gave a short presentation about the European University of Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability and offered as a tool the Skills Map document having the objective to prepare students to integrate into the labour market. It was interesting to compare the differences and similarities between the general competences demanded by the stakeholders from industry from their future employees with the competences that the participants considered necessary for their future job.
The EU-CONEXUS students were grateful for this international opportunity, willing to share their excitement about their experience:
“I had high hopes for this project. I wanted to meet new people and I wanted to learn more about a prospective job. Not only did I have a wonderful experience, but I also gained more self-confidence and strength. This project completely exceeded my expectations! Thank you for your support and dedication! Here’s to many more!” – Antonia Dinu, 1st year UTCB student at Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages
“My experience in this project was awesome because it was for the first time when I had the chance to participate in an international Erasmus Youth Exchange. I’ve learned a lot of things about the future of the European jobs, and I feel I improve my critical thinking, decision-making and self-confidence.” – Cristian Madescu, 1st year UTCB student at Faculty of Building Services Engineering
