Career choices begin to take shape at school. With this approach, Metinvest Polytechnic has started its series of outreach meetings in various communities. The first stop on the route was the Shyroke community, where the university representatives talked with final-year students.
The meeting took place in Lyceum No. 2 and it was dedicated to a conscious career choice. Future applicants got to know about professions in the industries of the future, modern engineering and technical fields, as well as the opportunity to combine studying with their first career steps even before receiving a diploma.
During the discussion, speakers told students about the requirements for admission to the university. The main requirement is taking the National Multi-subject Test (NMT); for people in privileged categories and internally displaced persons, a simplified procedure is available. More detailed information is available in the university's admissions office.
Viacheslav KAMENETS, Associate Professor of Mining at Metinvest Polytechnic, emphasised that the university was established to train specialists in demand in industry:
"Our university prepares specialists who are already needed in the mining and metals industry and will be critically important for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction. Resources and technologies are important, but without qualified people development is impossible. Therefore, we focus not only on theory but also on practical skills. The majority of our students work while studying and gradually advance from a professional junior bachelor's degree to a master's degree and later have the opportunity to pursue a career in research."
The curriculum at Metinvest Polytechnic is based on a mixed model: online theory is combined with offline practical training and production sessions. Such a format allows students to immerse themselves early in the professional environment and build their individual career path.
Vadym PUKHALSKYI, Head of the Development Department at Metinvest Polytechnic, said:
"Upon reaching the age of 18, students can work at enterprises, choosing fields ranging from engineering, mining and metallurgy to occupational safety, computer science or business areas. We offer a wide range of educational programmes, whilst Metinvest Group encourages students not only to study but also to gain their first work experience. Young people are provided with their first jobs, financial support upon employment, and university scholarships, which strengthen their motivation for learning and professional development."
The community representatives also highlighted the importance of such meetings. According to Vikotoriia Sinchevska, Head of the Education Department of the Shyroke Village Council, such initiatives are of strategic importance for the industrial region, because they give young people real prospects for self-realisation and development, benefiting their home region.
For the school students themselves, the meeting became an opportunity to seriously reflect on their future profession. After the meeting, Anton Borysenko, an 11th-grade student at Lyceum No. 2 in Shyroke, shared that the discussion was interesting and helpful, and that engineering appears promising to him, as such specialists represent the future of the country. The series of Metinvest Polytechnic's outreach meetings in communities will continue. Its aim is to help young people make a conscious choice, aligning their personal interests with the real needs of the modern labour market and development opportunities in Ukraine.
