Teaching is just the beginning

I want to work" is the argument put forward by many who decide in favour of an apprenticeship and against secondary school. The work in a company, the contact with the adult world, the apprenticeship salary - these are what make apprenticeships attractive to many. And it is no longer the case that an apprenticeship is a decision against going to university. It has long been said that attending grammar school keeps all options open. This is even truer for apprenticeships with a vocational baccalaureate. After completing an apprenticeship, you can work in the profession you have learnt or study at a university of applied sciences. For example, a gardener can become a landscape architect, a businessman can become a qualified communications specialist and an electronics technician can become a nursery school teacher, as the examples show.
Technical apprenticeships are a valuable preparation for studying engineering - from bricklayer to civil engineer, for example. Anyone who develops new interests during or after their apprenticeship can change subject or complete the preparatory course for the entrance exam at a university or ETH, the so-called passerelle. If you pass the entrance exam, you can study at any Swiss university or ETH. One option between the vocational baccalaureate and grammar school is the specialised secondary school, which is available at various locations and in various disciplines: Health, social work, education, communication and information (applied linguistics), design and art, music and theatre, applied psychology.
More and more paths are leading to the Matura, but the Matura is also required for more professions than in the past. For example, to train as a nursery school teacher or physiotherapist. It is therefore definitely worth thinking about a baccalaureate school at an early stage. It is also not a problem to do the Matura after completing your apprenticeship - as long as you are able to study efficiently and reproduce what you have learnt in the exam situation. However, all paths to higher education have one thing in common: they all require an increased commitment to learning.

From gardener to landscape architect

Yvonne Keller 33, Zurich
It was always clear to me that I wanted to work in the «green sector», i.e. with plants. So I did an apprenticeship as a pot plant and cut flower gardener in a large nursery. The apprenticeship was a great time, but extremely strenuous. Because we mixed our own potting soil, I sometimes spent days shovelling soil. And in the peak season in spring, we apprentices also worked a lot of overtime, but I had eight weeks' holiday every year.
After my apprenticeship, I worked in the same field for five years. But I felt mentally unchallenged. I didn't feel like spending my whole working life in a greenhouse or on a building site. I completed my technical vocational baccalaureate in two years while working and then studied landscape architecture at the Rapperswil University of Applied Sciences. The degree programme was exciting and I benefited from my professional experience in plant cultivation. In addition, some of the material was repetition for me.
I was in the first cohort to study landscape architecture under the Master's/Bachelor's system. Compared to the old degree programme, it took half a year less to complete the Bachelor's degree. That's why I was told at the time that I'd better do a Master's if I wanted to be taken seriously as a landscape architect. Today I know that this is not absolutely necessary. I would definitely enter the profession again via the apprenticeship, but I would do the BMS during the apprenticeship. This would have allowed me to get to university quicker and I wouldn't have had to complete my training at 29. Because it was always clear to me that I wanted to work for a few more years before I had a family. It was good for me that I joined the company during my internship while I was still studying, and I'm still working for them today after completing my Master's degree and travelling the world for a year.

From insurance salesman to editor-in-chief

Romeo Hutter 38, Rüschlikon ZH

I actually wanted to do an apprenticeship in a trade. I had a taster as a carpenter, bricklayer, draughtsman and more. But all these professions were too one-sided for me. In the end, I did a commercial apprenticeship with an insurance company. After my apprenticeship, I worked part-time in a youth centre and also did a job as an insurance salesman. Still with my sights set on a skilled trade, I wanted to do a second apprenticeship as a boat builder, but the company backed out of the promise of an apprenticeship contract at the last minute.
My work in youth work gave me the idea of studying socio-cultural animation. I would probably have been accepted without a school-leaving certificate, but at 22 I was still too young. So I decided to do a technical vocational baccalaureate to open up the possibility of studying at a university of applied sciences. I went to school four days a week and went to the youth centre three evenings a week. I find learning easy, so the year at the vocational secondary school (BMS) was pretty relaxed.
Because I had learnt about and appreciated public relations work in youth work, I decided to study Journalism and Communication at the ZHAW Winterthur, which was new at the time. I was also sure that this would open up more job opportunities for me than training in social work. The degree programme was a lot more intensive than the BMS. I have always been interested in technology and science, which is why I decided to specialise in technology and was able to attend lessons in subjects such as physics in addition to communication. The end of the semester in particular was often intense, with lots of exams and papers. But there were also relaxed times and the end of the three-year degree programme was always in sight. I graduated with a diploma as a communicator FH.
The degree programme included two internships, a short one of one month and a long one of three months. I completed the long one at «Publisher», the Swiss trade magazine for publishing and digital printing. I stayed in contact with the publisher and six months after I graduated, he offered me a job on the editorial team. I am now editor-in-chief and have the versatility in my job that I always wanted: I write articles myself, coordinate the work of the other editors and freelancers and develop the content of the magazine. I am free in my working hours and can also work at home, which is a great advantage for me as a father of two children.

From multimedia electronics technician to kindergarten/ lower school student

Ramona Hug 22, Russikon ZH

I really wanted to do an apprenticeship with a vocational baccalaureate so that I wouldn't be tied to a single profession afterwards. Although I had passed the entrance exam for grammar school, I decided to do an apprenticeship as a multimedia electronics technician because I could do it at tpc, a subsidiary of SRG. I had no particular connection to technology, but I was fascinated by radio and television even as a child. The apprenticeship was a cool time. Sometimes I thought: I'll never pass the final apprenticeship exam, why didn't I go to grammar school? But in the end it went well and I also passed the vocational baccalaureate without any problems.
The tpc runs a training workshop. Apart from the boss, only apprentices work there. If a computer or consumer electronics device wasn't working or needed to be installed somewhere, we were responsible. We also had individual projects: I once fitted dozens of LED lights into a costume and programmed them to flash.
After my apprenticeship, the tpc offered me a job as an image technician. I was responsible for ensuring that all cameras and TV monitors were set up correctly for programmes. But even then I realised that I wanted to study. I didn't want to go deeper into technology, which is why electrical engineering was not an option, and just one subject, for example biology, was too one-sided for me.
Because I enjoy working with children, for example as a youth club leader and babysitter, I took the entrance exam at the Zurich University of Teacher Education. I've been on the kindergarten/lower school programme for a year now. I have a wide range of subjects, from sport and visual arts to maths and didactics. I like that because I'm interested in a lot of things. At the moment I find it extremely exhausting, much harder than school and teaching. But I'm sure I'm on the right track and I'm looking forward to teaching.

Read more:

• Career choice - nothing is forever
• What influence do school grades have on career choices?
• Alternatives to apprenticeships and grammar school
• Ask the careers counsellor!
• I want to go to grammar school
• The apprenticeship - a model for success
• The career after the apprenticeship
• Changing professions
• 7 tips for choosing a career
• Questions about career choices that help