"Swiss TecLadies": Mentoring gave an insight into an apprenticeship as an optician

Stefanie, how did the "matching" with your mentee Carla happen?

While the interested girls and young women indicated their career aspirations and goals for the selection process, we mentors submitted a similar profile: Profession, hobbies, interests, knowledge, etc. This was used by the programme management to bring us together with the mentees.
I had a very good and valuable experience - Carla is already my third mentee. We had never met before the programme started, but that could have been good in private: We found out that Carla lives in the same street in Buochs that was my home until five years ago.

Carla, how did your plans change over the course of the mentoring programme?

My original career aspirations were to be a draughtswoman specialising in architecture. I was therefore pleased that Stefanie specialises in this field and took a close look at it during the taster session. It was very interesting, but most of the work is done on screens. I also spoke to my friends who are doing a commercial apprenticeship, becoming a polygraph or a mediamatician, for example. This was also too "computer-heavy" for me, but I liked the commercial and creative aspects. So, together with Stefanie, I looked for training profiles in which technology was one aspect among several others.

Stefanie, what specifically did you do in the mentoring programme?

The "Swiss TecLadies" programme is about self-discovery, broadening your own horizons and mapping out your future path. As a mentor, I am not interested in setting a direction. Instead, I try to understand the inclinations and abilities of my mentee.

Together, we visited companies, took part in Swiss TecLadies workshops and watched presentations on professional fields. We were both very impressed by the chemistry lectures at the University of Zurich Irchel. If I had experienced something like that as a teenager - it's quite possible that I would have been better at chemistry!

But I'm a civil engineer specialising in load-bearing structures. I calculate and supervise the construction of buildings and infrastructure structures. As a mentor, I don't really do anything else: I support and accompany the realisation of "bridges" into adult life. When we looked at the "EFZ optician" profile, inspired by the family, everything finally came together for Carla. I supported her with her applications and it worked: Carla will be starting her apprenticeship in the main town of Stans in August.

Carla, are you happy to be going down this path?

Yes, very much! I think this job gives me the variety and complexity I want. It combines technology with craftsmanship - for example, we learn how to grind glass and handle many materials with fine motor skills. And there are many social aspects such as customer counselling, design, aesthetics, accounting and health. The only disadvantage is that the vocational school, where I spend two days a week, is in Olten, which is a good hour and a half's journey. If I do the vocational baccalaureate at the BMS after the apprenticeship, I could also go on to study later.

Stefanie, what is your experience of the (still) often male-dominated technical professions? What would you change?

I have no problems with that. My recipe is simple: be natural and honest, stay authentic. I know what I can do, but also what I can't do. I am respected as a professional, by colleagues and customers, in the office as well as on the construction site. I try to pass on my convictions to the next generation in the Swiss TecLadies mentoring programme.

Thank you very much, Stefanie and Carla.