With support from the Youth Guarantee scheme, many young people in Europe have managed to find a job or follow a course which gives their career a boost. Here's the story of Andrei, from Romania.

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“No work experience? Sorry!” That was the answer Andrei always got when he started job hunting after leaving secondary school last year, until a friend suggested him to visit the local Active Employment Agency and speak to a career adviser.

The adviser told Andrei about the Youth Guarantee and recommended him to take some cooking classes, a training option which was supported by the scheme. He liked the idea of learning a new trade from scratch and took the opportunity to obtain a recognised certificate. The free course had theoretical and practical modules – plus Andrei got to learn tips and tricks from some of the best chefs in the country.

The adviser also taught Andrei how to improve his CV so that he could catch the eye of potential employers. Fortunately, it only took him a few weeks to land a great, well-paid job! He is now a qualified cook based in Bucharest, not far from his home town. He is working hard and is very happy with his new career, which has allowed him to become financially independent.

“I strongly recommend the Youth Guarantee scheme. It really changed my life and taught me that it is never too late to learn new skills. I was just a boy with an uncertain future and over a period of just a few months I have become a skilled professional.”

Key facts

• Andrei is the typical kind of young person that the Youth Guarantee scheme is trying to help. His struggle to find work is not unusual in Romania, where the unemployment rate for young people was 22.3 % in March 2015.
• One priority for the Youth Guarantee scheme is to find placements that combine training with a taste of working life. The Youth Guarantee aims to ensure that, within four months of registering as unemployed, a young person up to the age of 25 should receive a quality offer of a traineeship, apprenticeship, education or employment.
• In Romania, young people can now receive counselling and guidance through newly established Youth Guarantee Centres. The centres seek to place clients with employers that can offer good-quality training options like apprenticeships. When necessary, the centres also encourage young people to finish school.

Background

The EU countries endorsed the principle of the Youth Guarantee in April 2013. The EU financially supports the set-up and implementation of Youth Guarantee Schemes through the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative. It also provides opportunities to learn from each other, and monitors the implementation in the context of the European Semester. The results of these efforts contribute to providing youngsters a better career future.