Career Tomorrow — What fits me?

About the programme

“Career Tomorrow” is our mentoring and career-orientation programme, run in collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages Romania. It is aimed at young people in difficult circumstances — lack of financial resources, lack of family support, disadvantaged backgrounds. Most of them grow up without having seen, in real life, a chef, a graphic designer, a make-up artist, a software developer or an architect. You cannot choose something you do not know exists.

The programme brings professionals from very different trades — from chefs and make-up artists to people in IT, medicine or law — into a series of one-to-one or small-group meetings. The conversations are not polished career talks. They are honest exchanges: what the real journey looked like, including the detours, bad decisions, recoveries, and what an ordinary working day in that trade looks like.

How it works

• Monthly themed meetings with an invited professional — prepared together with the children, so they come with their own questions.
• Visits to the workplace where possible — a restaurant kitchen, a photo studio, a newsroom, a workshop.
• Follow-up sessions in a group, where children process what they discovered and what they want to explore next.
• Personal notebooks — one-on-one work with the mentor around each child’s interests and aspirations.

Who it serves

Teenagers between 12 and 18 in the communities we support — children who are orphans, raised by grandparents or in family placement, for whom choosing a high school or a trade does not come with a network of adults to guide them.

What it has meant so far

Professionals who have already accepted our invitation include Alexandru Abagiu (make-up artist, over 30 years of experience) and Chef Orlando Zaharia — meetings that left, beyond practical knowledge, very concrete examples of “how a path is built”. Honest conversations about school, moments of doubt, decisions made without guarantees, and how much it matters to stay close to what feels right to you.

“I want to become a pastry chef, but we don’t know if there will be money for school… but when I come to the workshops, something lights up in me and I remember that maybe there is a chance.”

— Roxana, programme beneficiary

How you can get involved

• As an invited mentor — if you work in a trade a teenager rarely sees and you can spare a 90-minute meeting, write to us.
• As a company partner — we can build a series of sessions together with your team’s professionals. Details on the Partners page.
• As a donor — each session has real costs: travel, materials, lunch when a meeting runs longer. Support the programme.