The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency held a vocational guidance day in Nyíregyháza

The HFDA’s national vocational training support roadshow continues in 2023. On the 13^th of January, the next stop of the career guidance days was the SZC Wesselényi Miklós Secondary Technical School and Student Hostel in Nyíregyháza, where almost 150 students could familiarise themselves with creative industry opportunities. Besides professional guidance, the programme’s goal was to promote the “Get In The Picture – New Talent Of The Year” tender realised by the Agency, Startup Campus, and the Budapest Complex Vocational Training Centre as professional partners.

The vocational guidance day in Nyíregyháza was realised with a goal similar to the previous events: the Agency presented its Fashion and Design Industry Vocational Training Development Support Programme and also gave students detailed information about the “Get in the Picture – New Talent of the Year” tender. In addition, the students could learn about career opportunities in the creative industry and meet professionals working in the sector.

The event was led by Bence Csalár fashion expert and writer and he also explained the details of the tender. Then, Máté Horváth and Borbála Ferencz gave motivational speeches to the pupils. Máté Horváth, a qualified product design engineer and industrial designer, has a preference for wood materials in his work, so he also gave the students an insight into the joinery industry during his presentation. With the experts’ help, the students grasped the beauties and hardships of the profession through concrete examples, while he also spoke about the Agency’s popular design LAB incubational programme and his own brand’s structure.

After Máté Horváth’s presentation, Borbála Ferencz fashion and jewellery designer shared her professional experiences. Sustainability is a matter close to Borbála’s heart, so in her presentation, she revealed how she built environmental consciousness into her brand since its operation is based on the same: giving a new life to old, worn-out clothes and plastics. The designer expressed her opinion on the relationship between the creative industry and sustainability and its challenges, as well as the importance of using social media consciously.

After the exciting presentations, Borbála held a professional workshop for the interested students in the topic of value-added recycling. The participants transformed their used garments by learning different creative techniques (such as patchwork).

Similarly to the previous events, there was a lot of interest in the programme, it also attracted students from the neighbouring schools. Almost 150 pupils took an active part in the vocational guidance day, where they could also ask the invited experts about questions regarding the profession, and they had their newly acquired knowledge tested in the form of a playful Kahoot quiz. Given its great success, the HFDA’s national vocational training programme series is expected to be held in other vocational training institutes as well later this year.

Fashion, design, and creative industry full-time students can apply to the “Get in the Picture – New Talent of the Year” tender by the 20^th of January, 2023 at this link.