Debrecen4U September 30, 2025

Interested parties can get to know their future thanks to more than eighty exhibitors at the “Hello, Profession!” career orientation festival

Stands of companies, educational institutions, and local organizations await the audience looking for new opportunities at the 5th “Hello, Profession!—Path to the Future” exhibition and conference. More than 80 exhibitors will be presenting themselves at the two-day program series of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center—on Monday and Tuesday—at the event venues of the Nagyerdei Stadium.

The career choice event has returned to the Nagyerdei Stadium for the fifth time. Interactive stands await primary and secondary school students, their parents, teachers, and adults looking for new opportunities at three event venues for two days. The event will also feature key economic, educational, and community actors in the region, as well as vocational schools, technical schools, and grammar schools. The two-day event offers an excellent opportunity for companies to build direct relationships with their future employees, and it helps visitors to get in direct contact with local actors. In 2025, the featured partner of the event series is the recently launched collaboration called “Printing Industry Career in Debrecen.”

At the ceremonial opening, Zsolt Tirpák, Chancellor of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center, opened the event with welcoming thoughts. The center manager said that the event shows the way for young people. Thanks to the conversations that take place here, thoughts are started: what am I looking for, what kind of school, what kind of job, what is our future, and similar questions. Participants can meet about 80 exhibitors, gain experiences, and get to know economic partners, vocational training opportunities, and higher education actors. The chancellor stated that vocational training is meaningful when it is paired with a secure future and the conditions are in place for acquired knowledge to be applied. He pointed out that Debrecen is a city of success, with a supportive economic environment to make this possible.

Gergely Pálmai, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, gave a speech at the event. “This day is about you, dear young people,” he told the audience, then added that one of the most difficult decisions in life has to be made. Vocational training is one of Hungary’s greatest strengths, a strength that sustains not only young people but the entire nation. Its popularity is unbroken, offering attractive career opportunities; vocational training is not a plan B, but a vocation, a path to fulfillment. Vocational training is also a gateway to higher education, with no pressure to choose and a direct path to higher education. It carries with it the opportunity for a career at all levels, and the government provides all the support it needs. The Deputy State Secretary also spoke about the benefits of vocational training, including the scholarship system and start-up benefits.

Zita Magyar, President of the National Vocational and Adult Education Office, spoke appreciatively about the event, saying that she was grateful to those interested in attending the event, as well as to the organizers and the employees of the institutions for showing themselves and the opportunities available in vocational training. She also expressed her gratitude to the companies and elementary school staff, pointing out that the event is also about trust, and she believes that it is important to accompany students on the path they have chosen.We need to train students who are ready to enter the labor market or continue their studies in higher education. She asked the visitors to attend the event with open eyes. “Vocational training is a good choice,” she concluded.

In his welcoming speech, Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa stated that a historically significant event took place in the city on Friday with the opening of the BMW Group Plant Debrecen, which shows that the economic development is at a high level in the city, offering numerous opportunities. The Deputy Mayor also said, referring to the saying “As you sow, so shall you reap,” that the city has been sowing together with the Debrecen Vocational Training Center for a long time, which is also evident in the number of students in secondary school and adult education. The city leader spoke about the infrastructural developments expected in the center in the near future. “We must not wait for the future, but build it—this can be achieved hand in hand with the center,” he drew attention, and then added that he was confident that the perspective and training portfolio experienced here would help in making good decisions.

Erika Szarka, educator and contributor at Alföldi Nyomda Zrt., said on behalf of the “Printing Industry Career in Debrecen” collaboration that they are not working as competitors but as partners in the cluster of 7 companies. There is currently a labor shortage in the printing industry, so training new employees is of utmost importance to the cluster, and at the event they aim to showcase the diverse printing industry opportunities available in the region and the professions that can be learned.

Sándor Szilágyi, the general director of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center, explained that for the past four times the center has tried to create a series of events that not only show what professions exist, but also that those can be tried out, and that the event does not only present schools, but also shows which companies offer the professions that can be learned at these schools. Every profession and every school can be linked to one or more companies, and it is clear what kind of future those who choose a profession or vocational training can expect and where they can imagine themselves working. This is the philosophy of this event today as well. Interactivity offers the opportunity to taste the tricks of the profession and to dare to dream, and he invited the audience to try themselves at the stands, where many actors are present. The key to the future lies in cooperation.

The event will also be enriched by conferences, indicating several target groups. On Monday afternoon, lectures aimed at primary school students will take place, and on Tuesday from 9 a.m., higher education and economic actors will welcome interested parties with lectures.

Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu