Workshops for Schools: Career Orientation | Salah Abdeldayem
Student workshops for grades 8 to 12: discovering strengths, career orientation, application training and future skills. 90 minutes or half day.
Future Skills for School and Work · Programme for schools
Workshops for schools: discover strengths, find a career, start well
Five hands-on student workshops on career orientation. Students identify their strengths, explore careers and education paths that suit them, prepare for internships and applications, practise the skills they need for training and work, and learn to communicate clearly. Every module ends with a personal result they take away.
See the five modules
Grades 8 to 12, all school types
90 minutes or half day
One module or the full programme
In person at the school or online, in Germany and abroad
Strengths first, then the career
Many young people ask themselves which career suits them. Careers education often turns to job profiles and applications early, before students know their own strengths, interests and competences.
The programme therefore combines career orientation with personal development for young people and follows a clear order: getting to know themselves, exploring careers and education paths, applying, then finding their feet in training and work. Students do not just receive information. They explore their own abilities, practise what will be expected of them later, and work out their next steps themselves.
Designed for schools that prepare their students for internships, vocational training, university and working life:
School leadership
Class teachers and subject teachers
Careers coordinators
School social workers and counsellors
Coordinators of project days and careers weeks
Five modules, one programme
Each module stands on its own and ends with a personal result. Modules A to D build on each other, from self-knowledge to the start of training and work; module E lays the foundations of good communication.
Who am I?
Recognise strengths, develop potential, shape the future
Result: My personal competence profile
Module A in detail
What suits me?
Career orientation with a clear outlook
Result: My personal career roadmap
Module B in detail
Applying successfully
The path to an internship or apprenticeship
Result: My personal application roadmap
Module C in detail
Starting strong
Future skills for training and work
Result: My personal future skills plan
Module D in detail
Communicating clearly
Speaking, listening, understanding
Result: My communication check
Module E in detail
Module A: Who am I?
Recognise strengths, develop potential, shape the future
Goal
Career orientation starts with self-knowledge. Many young people underestimate their abilities because those abilities feel ordinary to them. In this module students make their strengths, interests, values and competences visible before they make decisions about education and careers, and link them to career fields that could suit them.
Topics
- My future starts today: expectations and goals for training, work and personal development
- Discovering strengths: recognising talents through their own experiences and successes, focusing on resources rather than deficits
- Interests and motivation: what they enjoy, what gives them energy, which values matter
- Making competences visible: from school, hobbies, sport, volunteering and everyday responsibilities
- Personality and career: working styles, behaviour in teams, decision-making and suitable career fields
Methods
Individual and group exercises, partner interviews, structured self-reflection, case studies from career orientation, moderated group discussions and tasks that apply what they have learned.
Half-day extension
Deeper competence analysis in small groups, self-assessment exercises, peer feedback, an individual development plan and a more detailed matching of strengths to career fields.
Result: My personal competence profile
A basis for choosing a career or an internship and for writing applications. It includes:
Personal strengths
Core interests
Key competences
Suitable career fields
Next steps in career orientation
Back to the module overview
Module B: What suits me?
Career orientation with a clear outlook
Goal
Digitalisation, artificial intelligence and new occupations are changing the world of work, and the number of training and study options keeps growing. As a result, many students do not know which path really suits them. Starting from their strengths and interests, they get to know career fields, compare education paths and develop a realistic outlook.
Topics
- The world of work is changing: digitalisation, artificial intelligence, skills shortages, new occupations
- Exploring career fields: skilled trades, industry, health, IT, administration, social professions, creative industries and other sectors
- Understanding education paths: apprenticeships and vocational training, dual study programmes that combine university and work, university, further education
- Future skills: communication, teamwork, problem solving, initiative, independence, willingness to learn, adaptability
- The right career: linking strengths and interests to occupations, comparing alternatives, simple decision strategies
Methods
Career exploration stations, matching competences to careers with a competence-career matrix, group work, decision exercises, case studies from working life, moderated discussions and reflection tasks.
Half-day extension
In-depth career research, group tasks on specific career fields, analysis of real career biographies, practical case studies, personal future scenarios and a future plan with short-, medium- and long-term goals.
Result: My personal career roadmap
Useful for internships, guidance conversations and further steps in career orientation. It includes:
Training or study paths worth exploring
Personal future skills
Personal goals for career orientation
Concrete next steps
Module C: Applying successfully
The path to an internship or apprenticeship
Goal
How do I write a CV? What happens in an interview? Students learn how application processes work and what employers look for, and practise presenting their strengths with confidence and authenticity. Memorising stock answers is explicitly not part of it.
Topics
- The application process: stages, employers' selection criteria, avoiding common mistakes
- Application documents: a modern CV, a convincing cover letter, online applications, presenting their competences convincingly
- The interview: preparation, self-presentation, body language, typical questions, handling nerves
- Starting an internship well: what workplaces expect, professional conduct, communication at work, taking responsibility
Methods
Simulations of typical application situations with students switching between applicant and recruiter, analysis of real application examples, short self-presentation exercises, communication exercises, group work and feedback in small groups.
Half-day extension
Interview role plays, mock interviews with feedback, short assessment centre exercises, analysis of typical selection procedures and individual feedback on self-presentation.
Result: My personal application roadmap
A plan students can use to start their internship or apprenticeship applications straight away. It includes:
Personal strengths to highlight in applications
Next steps up to the application
Interview preparation
Goals for an internship or apprenticeship
Checklist for the application process
Module D: Starting strong
Future skills for training and work
Goal
Besides subject knowledge, employers and training providers expect communication, teamwork, self-organisation, problem solving and self-directed learning. These skills are not explained here but practised: each competence is trained through a concrete task (challenge-based learning) and then reviewed together and linked back to school, internships and work.
Topics
- Communicating: expressing ideas clearly, active listening, giving respectful feedback, avoiding misunderstandings
- Working in a team: roles and responsibility, building trust, resolving conflicts constructively
- Critical thinking and problem solving: evaluating information, working in a structured way, making deliberate decisions, finding creative solutions
- Self-management: time management, motivation, self-organisation, reaching goals, personal responsibility
- Learning strategies: learning effectively, improving concentration, preparing for exams
Methods
Team tasks, problem-solving challenges, communication exercises, pair and group work, case studies from school and working life, structured reflection and individual tasks that apply what they have learned.
Half-day extension
Team challenges on collaboration, communication exercises with feedback, group problem-solving tasks, reflection exercises and an individual development plan for the coming months.
Result: My personal future skills plan
A development plan that lasts beyond the workshop. It includes:
Areas for development
Concrete goals
Actions for further development
First steps for school, training and work
Module E: Communicating clearly
Speaking, listening, understanding
Goal
Communication means speaking, listening and understanding, with words, voice and body language. In short exercises, students experience how quickly a message gets lost along the way, how much the voice and body say as well, and how good listening works. Mistakes are part of it: good communication is a skill everyone can learn.
Topics
- What communication is: speaking, listening and understanding
- The three parts: words (clear, simple sentences), voice (volume, pace, tone), body language (eye contact, gestures, posture)
- Rules of good communication: listening, letting others finish, speaking clearly and slowly, asking when something is unclear, repeating what they have understood
- Typical mistakes: not listening, speaking too fast, interrupting, being afraid to ask
- Communication in everyday life: asking something on the bus, speaking up in class, asking for help
Methods
A whisper chain, a listening exercise with "What I understood is that …", guessing emotions from body language, role plays on everyday situations, comparing good and poor communication, and partner questions.
Half-day extension
More time for role plays and partner exercises, with feedback in the group.
Result: My communication check
In the student handbook, to keep working with after the workshop. It includes:
What I already do well: listening, speaking clearly, staying calm, asking questions
My learning area: what I want to improve
The rules of good communication
Tips for everyday life
Job interviews: Show who you are
Also available · Compact training for the first job interview
Goal
Most young people are nervous before their first job interview, and that is completely normal. The workshop shows that an interview is not an interrogation: the employer wants to find out who someone is, whether they fit into the team, whether they are keen to learn and how they get on with people. At the same time, students check whether the job and the workplace suit them. The aim is not to look perfect but to come across as genuine, interested, friendly and motivated.
Topics
- What employers really want to see: a friendly manner, interest, honest answers, motivation, respectful language
- The first impression: greeting, smiling, eye contact, clear speech, upright posture, punctuality, phone away
- "Tell me a bit about yourself": a short self-introduction with substance instead of a single sentence
- Typical questions: why this job, strengths with an example rather than a buzzword, weaknesses honestly and with progress, "Why you?"
- Asking their own questions: a typical working day, first tasks as a trainee, how new starters are introduced
- Body language and nerves: what comes across as confident, what seems unsure and what helps before the interview
An example from the workshop: asked about their strengths, many students just say "I'm reliable." A strength with an example is more convincing: "When I get a task, I usually do it straight away and on time. In group work, people can count on me."
How students practise
Students write their own self-introduction, improve answers to typical questions together, prepare their own questions for the employer and try out how body language comes across.
Half-day extension
More time for mock interviews in roles, with feedback on how students come across and on their answers.
Result: The handout "Job interviews: Show who you are"
To read again before the real interview. It includes:
Ideas for answering typical questions
Own questions for the employer
Tips on body language and handling nerves
A mini checklist for the day of the interview
Go to module C
Two formats: 90 minutes or half day
Each of the five modules is available in both formats, in person at the school or online, in Germany and abroad.
90 minutes
All topics of the module in compact form
Exercises and discussion instead of a lecture
A personal result to take away
Fits into regular lessons
Half day (about 3 to 4 school lessons)
Depth: extra practical phases on the module's topics
Feedback: more of it, in small groups
Results: more time to work them out properly
Use: project days, careers weeks, careers days
Book single modules or combine them
The modules can be used on their own or as a programme that builds step by step and accompanies students along the way.
Getting to know their own strengths, interests and competences.
Matching career fields and education paths with their strengths.
Applying convincingly for internships and apprenticeships.
Practising the skills that count when starting training and work.
Speaking clearly, listening well and asking questions, at school and in everyday life.
The workshops fit into subject lessons, project days, careers weeks and careers days, or become part of the school's careers education programme. Schedule and focus are adapted to the school's organisational possibilities and educational goals.
Taking part instead of listening
All modules rely on active participation. What students work out, they can apply straight away at school, in internships and in training.
Active, not lecture-based
Exercises, discussion and reflection shape the session, not a lecture.
Alone, in pairs, in groups
Individual exercises, partner interviews and group work alternate.
Role plays and real situations
Realistic case studies and simulations, such as a job interview seen from both sides.
Team challenges
Concrete tasks that make collaboration and problem solving visible, followed by a joint review.
Guided self-reflection
Structured questions help students evaluate their experiences and name their strengths.
A result to take away
Every student receives a handout with the key insights and their personal result from the module.
What the school gains
Learning goals for students
Name their own strengths, interests and competences
Compare career fields and education paths carefully
Apply with more confidence and present themselves well during internships
Practise communication, teamwork and self-organisation
Plan their next steps themselves
For the school
Career orientation: support it early and systematically
Transition: prepare students for training, university and work
Practice: add hands-on work to existing careers education
Personal skills: strengthen motivation and personal responsibility
Planning: 90 minutes or half day, single modules or the full programme
Who leads the workshops
I'm Salah Abdeldayem, coach, author and founder of Mentonovo. For more than 20 years I have worked with people on decisions, career direction and personal development, in Europe and the Gulf.
I studied linguistics and learning pedagogy and trained in coaching, psychosocial counselling, communication psychology, competency analysis and systemic counselling. Arabic is my first language; I work fluently in German and English.
I have run workshops for organisations including the education office and school social work in Sindelfingen, Germany (Stabsstelle Dezernat 2, Bildungsbüro / Schulsozialarbeit GDS2), and for Caritas in Böblingen, all held in German. More about me
Studied learning pedagogy
Trained in competency analysis
More than 20 years supporting career decisions
Workshops for school social work in Sindelfingen and Caritas Böblingen
Questions schools ask
Which grades are the workshops for?
Grades 8 to 12, in all types of school.
How long is a workshop?
Each module is available as a 90-minute workshop or as a half day of about 3 to 4 school lessons. The half day adds extra practical phases.
Do all five modules have to be booked?
No. Each module can be booked on its own. Several modules can be combined into a programme that builds step by step, for example over several dates or during a careers week.
Is the job interview workshop available on its own?
Yes. "Job interviews: Show who you are" can be booked on its own, as 90 minutes or a half day, and also works as a deep dive after module C.
What do students take away?
In each module they work out a personal result: the competence profile (module A), the career roadmap (module B), the application roadmap (module C), the future skills plan (module D) or the communication check (module E). They also receive a handout with the key insights.
Are students tested or assessed?
No. The workshops are neither a test nor a psychological diagnosis, and they do not promise any particular career path. Students assess themselves, exchange views and record their insights.
In which language are the workshops held?
In German, English or Arabic.
Where do the workshops take place?
In person at the school or online, in Germany and abroad. All three options can be booked; the request form lets schools choose in person, online or either.
What does a workshop cost?
Prices are given on request. They depend on the format, the number of modules and the location (in person, online or abroad). A specific quote follows the request by email.
How does a request work?
Through the workshop request form: choose the module, the format and up to three possible dates. The request is not binding; the date is only fixed once it has been confirmed. Schedule and cost are then agreed together.
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Request a workshop for your school
Choose a module, a format and possible dates. The request is not binding, and the quote with the price comes by email.