Inspiration from Slovakia: Košice Career Workshopping

Author: Miloš Šiška, Euroguidance Slovakia

The National Career Guidance Awards is an annual event that showcases inspiring and high quality practices in career guidance. The event is organised to showcase submissions that promote innovation. It is a great opportunity to share experiences and strengthen professional networks. The event also has a panel of professionals from a range of diverse backgrounds who evaluate the submissions made. The submissions are assessed based on the below criteria:  

• Quality of the application 
• Quality of services provided 
• Client orientation 
• Innovation and Inspiration 
• Transferability 
• Efficiency 
• Sustainability 

The Košice Career Workshopping was the winner of Slovakia’s 2024 National Career Guidance Award. The award is a recognition for bringing together educators and counsellors from the Košice region to explore innovative methods in school-based career education.

About Košice Career Workshopping
The Košice Career Workshopping offered nine diverse workshops which were grouped into three main themes: 

• Innovative counselling approaches in career guidance 
• Creative career education activities in schools 
• Developing career competencies in students with special educational needs 

Each session focused on the development of Career Management Skills (CMS) and were led by experts from schools, counselling and prevention centres as well as youth-oriented organisations. The event concluded with a panel discussion on strengthening career education within the school settings, identifying effective principles and sharing successful examples that schools can build on when developing a career education and guidance system. 

What made it a success 

• The event was guided by a clear vision. Career guidance is not only a tool for choosing a school or profession, but is also an important, vital tool for student development. 
• The programme was customisable. This enabled participants to choose sessions based on their specific needs and preferences.  
• Workshops were led by practitioners from both schools and organisations who showcased examples of good practice, including the focus on innovative techniques and addressing the needs of disadvantaged students. 
• Organisers worked closely with speakers to help shape the content. This ensured that there was a variety of topics with a clear focus on Career Management Skills (CMS). 
• Participants were encouraged to rethink the role of career guidance in schools. 
• The event provided practical tools and activities for direct use in schools. 

An inspiration for career events 
Although the event took place in Slovakia, the approach taken can offer inspiration for guidance professionals across Europe: 

• A focus on interactivity: Instead of attending long lectures, the event offered interactive workshops, creative group work and moderated discussions. This created deeper and more meaningful exchanges. 
• Community building from the bottom-up: Initiated by a local practitioner, the event reflected the real needs of the regional counselling community. 
• Space for connection: While online learning has its advantages, in-person events offer irreplaceable value, especially in helping professions. The event created space for informal conversations and personal contact with other professionals.  
• Openness to new topics and experimentation : Topics included value cards, entrepreneurial thinking in elementary schools, Kids’Skills and support for disadvantaged students. This demonstrated a willingness to try out new themes in flexible formats. 
• Small scale - Big impact: A quality educational event tailored to local needs can be organised without a large institution or budget.

The panel of judges valued the event's innovative approach to career guidance for primary and secondary school teachers in the Košice region. The panel discussion was seen as especially valuable for encouraging effective elements into school-based career education systems. The event was also aligned with national guidance standards, provided participants with practical, applicable methods that can be embedded into practice and there was a balance between diversity and thematic consistency. 

More information can be found on the website: www.centrumke.sk
The website does not have an English version. You can use Google Translate to translate into English: Click here.