Exciting career opportunities: Girls’ Day at Karl Knauer

Girls' Day isn't an ordinary career orientation day. Since 2001, the aim of this day has been to introduce girls to professions where women still make up less than 40 per cent of the workforce and to give them useful first-hand experience. The apprenticeship-based roles of Packaging Technologist and Media Print Technician are two of such professions. Packaging and promotional products specialist Karl Knauer once again took part in the nationwide Girls' Day this year to raise the profile of these careers among female pupils from the region.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the percentage of women training to become Packaging Technologists is just under 12 per cent, while the figure for Media Print Technicians is just under 16 per cent. The Girls' Day at Karl Knauer proves that these jobs are just as interesting and promising for women. Jennifer Schöner, Innovation Project Manager at Karl Knauer, and herself a former Packaging Technologist trainee, was on hand to guide the 11 female attendees through their day. After an extensive tour of the company, the first workshop got underway. Participants worked on making an Advent calendar together, including two additional doors for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. This calendar was then filled with small ready-made gifts so that everyone had a great souvenir of their day to take home with them. After lunch, two further workshops introduced pupils to punching and printing/colour lab areas, with hands-on activities included. The punching workshop involved taking a close look at a punching die, while the printing/colour lab workshop gave participants the chance to let their creativity flow through colour mixing.

Jennifer Schöner saw the event as thoroughly positive, “We are thrilled that so many girls were interested in our company and our apprenticeships this year. And it was great to see how enthusiastically they took part in our workshops.” 

Head of Human Resources David Dilger was also pleased with this year's Girls' Day, “The past few days have been all about vocational training: first the careers information fair in Offenburg, which was well attended, and just a few days later our Girls' Day here in Biberach. We are delighted with the amount of interest and hope to see some familiar faces in the coming years.”

Girls' Day has been taking place since 2001 and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. 2023 saw almost 14,000 events organised by companies and institutions across Germany. Next year, Girls' Day is set to take place on 3 April 2025.