Parents’ Academy
This past weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting Andrea Sárközy, a developmental teacher, career orientation trainer, and mathematics teacher, at the Nagybajom Community House. Andrea came to assist us as we’ve reached a crucial turning point in our lives: choosing a career path. Our Saturday session began with registering the children’s email addresses on the Orientify platform, followed by the students completing a career orientation test. While the children were filling out the test independently, the parents attended a lecture and discussion on further education, led by our trainer.
What are our fears? Where should we go from here? Should I choose high school or vocational training? How can I be successful? These were some of the questions we sought answers to. Although we didn’t find solutions to everything, we did gather a lot of useful information that may help us see the world more realistically.
In the second part of our day, we moved on to something truly exciting: reviewing the results of the talent profile tests. The test focused on our strengths and sorted us into imaginative categories such as: Number Master, Self-Guru, Community Magician, Mission Hero, Visual Mind, and so on. In addition, the application recommended professions and training programs based on the diverse categories we were placed into. Some received suggestions for 5 different professions, while others were presented with up to 25 career options.
Each profession had to be evaluated on a 0-6 point scale according to two criteria. One was how enthusiastic the student felt about the profession, and the other was how accessible it seemed at that moment or how much they would need to develop to bring it within reach.
The scores were entered into a talent matrix by the program, which then ranked the professions. It provided specific suggestions, detailing the work environment for the selected job, related professions, potential earnings, and the types of higher education, undivided degree programs, or vocational training required for that career.
The most interesting part of the day was yet to come. One of our university students, Zalán Győző, was with us. Andi Néni sat him in front of the students and asked him questions, starting from his high school experiences all the way through to his university years. Every 10-12 sentences, she paused Zalán’s story. She then discussed and highlighted key words with the students, pulling out the most valuable lessons from his experiences. This part of the session perhaps framed the whole workshop, shedding light on crucial aspects that might have otherwise been overlooked.
Looking ahead, our group will continue to focus on further education, as high school applications will soon become the central topic.