A career guidance platform for young people was launched - www.CarieraMea.com

Cariera Mea is a project designed through co-creation, born out of the ideas of youngsters and developed with their help. In December 2014, MiLab project organized a crowdsourcing campaign in which young people, parents and teachers across the country have submitted their ideas online on "How schools can develop skills useful in life?”. 

Many students and graduates reported that young people need a better career guidance while still in school. A recent World Bank study has revealed that 39% of undergrads in their final year, 43% of college graduates and 52% of vocational school graduates do not have a clear idea about their future career. After a series of consultations on this subject with students, teachers, psychologists and specialists in vocational guidance, the „CarieraMea.com” portal was created.

"The Ministry proposes an educational reform that would introduce, along other aspects, career guidance activities starting in the elementary school. This could help young people better understand themselves and could also reveal the multiple paths that can be followed in life. Thus, career guidance becomes a key tool in the development and assertion of students’ personalities, and in choosing correctly the profession according to one’s aspirations, desires and knowledge", said Elena Cernei, Deputy Minister of Education.

Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, mentioned that "helping young people take more informed career choices could have substantial benefits in aligning education with labor market needs. UNDP, through such projects as Cariera Mea is helping bridge this gap. And it is also one of the Global Goals - to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, which UNDP is working towards through various innovative initiatives".

Ludmila Botnar, interim director at ARTICO, said: "Through this portal, by extracurricular activities, volunteering opportunities and mobility projects, we give young people the opportunity to take well informed career decisions. This decision should be taken after considering all components of non- formal education: knowledge, skills and attitudes”.

Also, Sofia Suleanschi, director at the Center for Entrepreneurial Education and Business Support, added: "The career guidance activities are enabling young people to assess their interests and potential, to plan their career path and identify actions and resources needed to fulfill it".

The official launch of the portal was followed by an interactive event dedicated to young people. Thus, representatives of different professions shared with young people their insights on what it is like to practice in a particular field and how to become a good specialist. Also at the event, youngsters have talked with a psychologist, who tackled the importance of choosing correctly the career and steps to be taken in this regard.