This year, 2,180 employers are introducing students to different professions, offering a total of 12,753 vacancies. Medicine has been the most popular field for young people for several years, the event organizers said.
"The Shadow Day is a great opportunity to try out a profession in good time, to check whether the ideas about it correspond to reality. Students are also eager to share their experiences of companies and institutions with their peers," said Jānis Krievāns, the head of Junior Achievement Latvia and the organizer of the Shadow Day, in a press release.
The most in-demand professions among schoolchildren, taking into account the total number of applications, are computer programmer (299 applications), police inspector (276 applications), flight attendant (232), dentist (226), lawyer (217), physiotherapist (213), architect (187) and surgeon (185).
The most popular occupations offered by shadow employers are police inspector (399 vacancies), project manager (254), firefighter/rescuer (223), computer programmer (201), librarian (176), public relations specialist (171), lawyer (142) and pharmacist (135).
Junior Achievement Latvia career surveys have shown for several years that students are most interested in medical careers. It is therefore not surprising that this year, as last year, young people are most interested in the opportunity to shadow healthcare professionals. This time, 1,223 applications were received, followed by public administration (1,012 applications), education (830), local government (814), air transport support activities (532), television programming and broadcasting (485) and programming (399).
The results of the career survey conducted before the Shadow Day show that students cite good language and digital skills (48% and 44% respectively), creativity (39%), willingness to learn (29%), and ambition (25%) as the main strengths of young professionals.
The Shadow Day aims to connect the content of pupils' education with real life, helping them to plan their careers, make choices about their future professions and prepare for the labor market. For employers, it is a good opportunity to raise their company's profile and attract future colleagues.
