The second part of the youth exchange “Increase your Employability” took place from 26.06-02.07.2024 in Samokov, Bulgaria. Four participants and one team leader from each of the following countries took part: Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia, Guadeloupe (France) and Germany. That means we were 20 participants in total and one participant had her dog with her 😜.
The second part of the project was about finding out our own values and their ranking through reflection and with the help of certain tools. We identified presentation skills as an important factor for the world of work and therefore worked on them. However, we also considered why this can be an advantage in our private lives. We drafted a script for a digital CV and then filmed it. The aim of the youth exchange was for us to be trained, but also to share our previous knowledge and experiences. The new knowledge is to be taken back to the home countries and passed on through further workshops in the country.
—> Why did we decide to participate?
(Lena)
I decided to take part in this youth exchange because the topics of the labour market and employability were new to me and I wanted to find out more. My goal was to learn how I can integrate into the (European) labour market and be a successful part of it. I had also never been to Bulgaria before and wanted to build up an international network through this opportunity.
(Fabian)
I decided to participate in this youth exchange because I wanted to visit a new country in connection with an Erasmus project. I heard a lot of positive things about it during my semester abroad and therefore really wanted to take part in one myself. As the topic of integration into the labour market is currently very relevant to me, this Erasmus project was perfect for me.
(Caro)
I applied for this project because I am currently studying and thought it would be useful to find out about skills for the job market and learn them together with other young people. I also wanted to find out more about the other participating countries and cultures.
(Peggy)
I applied for this youth exchange to learn new skills for applying to the European labour market for my future life. I was also looking forward to meeting new people from new countries and Bulgaria.
(Samantha)
I decided to apply for this youth exchange programme because I am still at school and the topic of this project, increasing your employability, is important for my future life. I also wanted to gather information about the European labour market and get to know Bulgarian culture.
—> What were the main activities?
22 – 24.06: arrival
Almost all of the German team had the chance to arrive in Bulgaria either one or two days early and thus explore Sofia and the surrounding area. The European Championship match between Germany and Switzerland was also successfully watched at the public viewing in Sofia.
On 24.07.24 the team was complete and the journey to Samokov began. In the afternoon, we met up by the pool, got to know each other a little better and talked about the time ahead. After dinner together, we went to bed early to recover for the next day.
25.06: day 1
We started the first day with an energiser (ping pong) to wake us up properly. We then learnt the names of the other participants, but in a playful way.
We were then able to write down our expectations, fears and individual contributions. These were then shared anonymously with the group. The rules were not neglected either and were drawn up together with everyone. Before lunch, there was the so-called “mug exchange”, in which random mugs were exchanged that represented the home country of the respective participant.
During the lunch break, we met up at the pool and enjoyed the sunshine and cooling off.
Afterwards, we continued straight away with a treasure hunt in international teams. We used the Actionbound app, where we were constantly given new tasks, such as rehearsing a dance, taking funny pictures or finding historical monuments.
For the next activity, we got together in mixed small groups and were able to share our secret passion. The other teams then had to guess which passion belonged to whom.
The first day was therefore focussed on getting to know each other and strengthening our teamwork skills.
As a final activity, we met in our national team and reflected on the day.
After dinner, there was the optional option of playing board games to bring the day to a quiet close.
26.06: day 2
The day started as usual at 8am with breakfast. To make the most of the good weather, we met at the pool at 9.30am, where our team took the lead, as today was our workshop on the topic of “(un)Employment”, which we had prepared together. We went to a meadow where we started our workshop with an energiser to wake everyone up. We then had various groups work out the advantages and disadvantages of unemployment. Finally, two teams debated this topic.
After a short coffee break, it was time for the Spanish team’s workshop, which covered topics such as the influence of the working environment and how digital media affects the world of work. Lunch was a typical Bulgarian soup with white beans, sausage and bread. During the rest of the lunch break, we benefited from the good weather in the pool. Afterwards, we were informed about various international job search platforms in a workshop, which we were then allowed to try out in the national team. In the last workshop of the day, the eight key competences of the Youth Pass were explained to us. We then focussed on these in particular during our daily reflection. After dinner, we met up with the German team to rehearse our dance for the Euro dance competition the next day.
27.06: day 3
After we had breakfast, the programme started outside with an energiser, which helped us to remember each other’s names. We were then given lots of information about volunteering (what volunteering is, what types of volunteering there are, who sponsors it and how long you can take part).
All these questions were answered in detail and then some participants shared their personal experiences. This was followed by a short break and a workshop by the team from Guadeloupe. We were asked to imagine ourselves in three years’ time and draw this image.
We then had an interview with a person of our choice, in which both participants had to complete the questions/phrases “To be/ To have and To do” individually. We continued with a longer break, food and an energiser. We were introduced to video CVs, the tools available to create CVs and how they are structured. To practise how to film and edit a video, we shot videos about Bulgaria in groups and then watched them. After another short break, we looked at various examples of video CVs and discussed their special features and differences. Finally, we had dinner after a very instructive and informative day.
28.06: day 4
We started the morning with archery. The workshop was about setting goals and how to achieve them. After a short break, we started writing the scripts for our digital CVs and recording the first parts. After lunch, we did a midterm evaluation in international groups. Using a dice, each participant decided their own destiny as to which topic they would be allowed to give feedback on for the time spent so far.
The highlight of the day was cooking together in the late afternoon. But that wasn’t all. Each participant was asked to bring an ingredient from their home country (whether it was something typical from the country or their personal favourite ingredient). International groups were then drawn by lot and dishes were to be conjured up in these constellations. Everyone was a little sceptical at first, but soon solutions were found. And the end result was excellent! There was not the slightest shortage of food and we had the most diverse and delicious selection of food that we had during the whole project. Even dessert was provided.
29.06: day 5
The project’s break day had finally arrived (one day later than planned due to bad weather). After breakfast, we were taken by bus to the nearby mountains. There we were all able to relax on a short hike and enjoy the fresh mountain air. We were able to get to know each other a little better through a kind of “speed-friending”, where we changed our conversation partner every 4 minutes and answered a new question to each other.
After the excursion, the group from Guadeloupe even took the bus for a short detour to the capital Sofia, as the participants had so eagerly requested this. They came back exhausted, but completely thrilled and with shining eyes.
Meanwhile, the day ended for some of the others in a bar near the hotel. There they watched the European Championship round of 16 match between Germany and Denmark, played pool and danced.
30.06: day 6
We started the morning with another energiser. That was appropriate this time, because the interruption of the game, the time difference and the tension caused by the European Championship round of 16 meant that we had slept a little less than usual the night before. This time we played a rhythm game in which the group had to tap their chests, snap their fingers and clap their hands in the right order at the same time. It was a little difficult at first, but after a few attempts it worked quite well. One positive thing to emphasise is that there was a different energiser every day. This meant that the energisers never got boring and you were always curious to see which one you would do next.
We then used the morning to talk and reflect on “virtues and values”. “Value” can be translated into German as “Wertvorstellung”. It refers to goals or ideals. The term “virtue”, on the other hand, can be translated with the German word “Tugend”. It means that “virtues” are lived values. The aim of this exercise was for us to think about what is important to us in life and what we prioritise over other things. These could be priorities such as “spending time with the family”, “travelling a lot” or “earning a lot of money”. The exercise was done by everyone on their own and everyone could write down what is important to them. To make this easier to achieve, we were given a sheet of paper and divided it into 8 lines and 3 columns and wrote down 8 things that are personally important to us in the first line. We then compared each entry with each other. At the end we had a ranking list of which things are particularly important to us in life and which are less important in comparison. Personally, I think it’s a good exercise to take some time and think about what is really important to you in life.
After this exercise, there was a short break and then we had time until 15:00 to finalise our video CVs.
At 15:00 we then had another small energiser in which we sang together as a group. Afterwards we had a reflection, we were asked as a group to answer which activities during the project enabled us to acquire the 8 core competences of the “youth pass”. Eight posters were distributed around the room and each participant was able to add key points about which activities contributed to the acquisition of the core competences. We then got together in groups of 8 and thought about whether or not the bullet point matched the core competency. Many key points were suitable, while some others were assigned to other core competences. We then had free time at 17:15.
01.07: day 7
In the morning we went to a local organisation (social enterprise) in Samokov and the founder gave us an insight behind the scenes. The young generation in Samokov is very active and one of the biggest projects is an annual festival organised for Samokov, which is well attended. In discussions after the presentation, new partnerships were forged between the various participating organisations and Samokov.
We then went on a short hike to a viewpoint above Samokov. This is located in a forest where we carried out our final reflection on the project as a whole group. Afterwards, there was time to record personal feedback on paper in various ways. Some of the participants who had finished earlier eagerly set about collecting the rubbish that was flying around. We had gloves with us to pick it up and it was shocking to see that we managed to fill more than two large rubbish bags even though we only stayed in one place in the forest.
After lunch, almost everyone met up again in the pool without having discussed it beforehand. That’s why we quickly asked whether everyone would agree to move the next session to the pool. In the end, we moved to the dry shade, but we all benefited from the refreshment. In the last session, we discussed how we could pass on what we had learnt in the project to the outside world and how we wanted to put this into practice. To do this, we got together in national groups, drew up ideas and plans and set a time limit for each.
In the national teams, we then also filled out our Youth Pass, which means that everyone was able to write down their own learnings from the project on the 8 competences of the Youth Pass, which would then appear on the certificate presented in the evening.
We had our last dinner at 7pm. Afterwards, we met up again as a whole group and we discussed who our “secret friends” had been during the week.
02.07: departure
The Spanish team, the team from Guadeloupe and one of our participants travelled to the airport by taxi at 2 a.m. to catch their flights home. The others travelled back home during the course of the day.
—> What have you learnt?
- a few Bulgarian words, an insight into Bulgarian culture, deepening goal-setting and identifying personal values
- Strategy for scripting a video CV + realisation, structure of the European job market, techniques for presentations, discussion of my values and goals -> definition & realisation
- how to present yourself better and thus give better presentations and appear more self-confident
—> What was new?
- Bulgarian food
- a lot of different participants
—> What was suprising?
- Bulgarians shake their heads to say yes and nod to say no
—> What do you plan to do/ change at home?
- pay more attention to my environment, pick up more rubbish in nature when I see it
