This is the perfect (teaching) position

«I want to do an apprenticeship with animals,» said Anaïs at the very beginning of her search for a suitable apprenticeship. This statement in turn prompted me to suggest, not entirely seriously, that I should do an apprenticeship as a butcher. The shocked look on Anaïs' face was replaced by a pained smile when she realised that I had allowed myself a joke.

But first things first ...

One of the most important things for parents is that their children become something. We want them to learn a good profession that not only allows them to make a good living, but also gives them fulfilment. I would have liked my two daughters to go to grammar school and then go to university. After all, this was in line with my own educational path and if I had managed that, then they would manage it too.

What now? Dropping out of school, cancelling an internship, no money, doing nothing, hanging around - (my) horror story!

However, after three years of doing nothing, Anaïs dropped from the highest to the middle level in her final year of secondary school. At some point, intelligence and luck are no longer enough. My idea of grammar school vanished into thin air. After all, I would have expected her to pass this last year at intermediate level with flying colours and then get a very good degree in order to get a good apprenticeship. No way! By the skin of her teeth and thanks to my tutoring, she finally finished secondary school with flying colours. As Anaïs was miles away from knowing what profession she wanted to learn, she decided to do a 10th year at school.

And lo and behold ... Anaïs achieved top grades and became a really good pupil - but not for very long. Unfortunately, she was dazzled by the 500 francs a month that a friend promised her if she completed an internship at her crèche with the prospect of a subsequent apprenticeship as a childcare specialist at the same company. And so she dropped out of school in favour of this internship.

Unfortunately, the internship went down the drain and after two months it was terminated by mutual agreement. Well done! What now? Dropping out of school, cancelling the internship, no money, doing nothing, hanging around - (my) horror story! The situation was still unsatisfactory, as the good apprenticeships for the current year had already been filled and it would be a good 17 months before the new apprenticeships started. The first challenge we had to face was to bridge this long period in a sensible way.

First date: Career counselling

The first thing we did was to make an appointment with the careers counselling service to evaluate the career direction Anaïs wanted to take. Three areas crystallised: health, social work and animals. After that, specific apprenticeships were selected for her to try out. However, even a taster nowadays requires an application, so a CV and a letter of motivation had to be written.

Anaïs showed zero enthusiasm and at times I felt like a donkey driver with an extremely stubborn donkey that wouldn't move an inch. In the end, she was able to get a taste of five different professions in five companies. To my astonishment, the one she liked best was «businesswoman», an apprenticeship that she had absolutely not had on her radar and which did not fit into the career counselling grid at all. But she was allowed to try out a whole week at an insurance company and received a Manor voucher worth 200 francs as a thank-you. That was just what Anaïs was looking for and now it was clear that she wanted to look for an apprenticeship as a commercial clerk.

At her eleventh interview, she was motivated to the tips of her toes, well-rested, well prepared, punctual and even had her long artificial nails removed beforehand.

However, it was still too early to look for an apprenticeship, as the recruitment of apprentices had only just been completed and the selection of new apprentices did not start until later. So now it was time to «work and earn money». But not 100 per cent, so that there was still enough time to write applications and attend job interviews. Of course, I was also the driving force behind this, researching internship companies and motivating Anaïs to apply.

She found what she was looking for in our local community, where she landed a 12-month internship with a 70 per cent workload and a handsome monthly salary. Anaïs started her internship full of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, my fears were realised and she began to «weaken» after a short time. Cancelling the internship again was an absolute no-go and when she was a hair's breadth away from giving up, I shifted up a gear.

Good persuasion and motivation no longer helped. Under threat of stopping the money with immediate effect if she gave up and being shown the door, the miracle happened and Anaïs managed to turn things around. She completed the internship to the end and even received a good final certificate. This was an important step for her personal development and a huge weight was lifted from my heart.

Half the battle is won or lost?

The part-time workload allowed Anaïs to apply for an apprenticeship as a commercial clerk. She was given the opportunity for an interview eleven times. She was completely demotivated and ill-prepared for seven appointments, overslept two appointments and cancelled one appointment half an hour beforehand. She almost drove me crazy because time was running out and the good apprenticeship positions were gradually being filled by other applicants.

But by the eleventh appointment, she was motivated to the tips of her hair, well-rested, well prepared, punctual and even had her long artificial nails removed beforehand. It was the apprenticeship as a clerk at Swiss Animal Protection. She wanted this and no other. Jesse Owens' quote «To succeed, you only need one chance» proved to be true, as Anaïs got the job and had her apprenticeship, and one with animals to boot.

After a month, Anaïs is still highly motivated and happy with her choice of apprenticeship. The fact that I've hardly been allowed to prepare meat since then and Anaïs wants to give away her expensive jacket with real fur are things I'm happy to accept.

Nevertheless, I mentally put a cross on the ceiling every morning and prepare myself for my second daughter Olivia's apprenticeship search. She wants to do something with people ...