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Hanover Region

Vocational Training

Apprenticeship Ambassadors Initiative in the Hanover Region

July 2, 2026- Career guidance on an equal footing - Apprentices inform students about their professions.

Our apprenticeship ambassadors are young people who are currently completing vocational training. They inform students about their chosen trade—including all the opportunities and possibilities, as well as the challenges. The apprentices receive detailed briefings in advance and are prepared for their assignments.

Interested schools and teachers can invite them to participate in classes, attend an apprenticeship fair, or take part in other career-oriented events.

In line with the peer-learning concept, our apprenticeship ambassadors are not just experts in their professions. They themselves were recently faced with the question of choosing a career and are therefore more attuned to the students’ lived experiences.

Through their personal accounts of their motivation and career paths, they connect with students on a personal level and encourage them to think critically about their career choices.
They make it easier for students to ask questions openly, address preconceptions, break down stereotypes, and, as role models, encourage students to take their first steps toward vocational training.
Last but not least, they highlight specific apprenticeship opportunities in the Hannover region and share their experiences about starting a career.

Things to Consider Before the Visit

We recommend having training ambassadors visit starting in 9th grade, as part of career orientation and during regular class time. However, we’re also happy to work with you to explore opportunities for individual career orientation programs.

In advance, the responsible teacher should prepare the students for the exchange with the ambassadors (e.g., developing questions, identifying career fields, gathering ideas and preconceptions) to encourage the students’ active participation.

A teacher must always be present during the event to ensure that the duty of supervision is fulfilled.

Implementation

An ambassador session typically lasts 90 minutes, during which the apprentices introduce the students to their respective apprenticeship professions.

This can take the form of discussions, PowerPoint presentations, or brief hands-on activities; the choice is up to the ambassadors. The format is therefore as varied as the professions themselves; for details, please feel free to contact the respective providers’ representatives in advance.

Follow-up

To ensure sustainable and effective career guidance, students should reflect on the newly acquired information and knowledge about the various career fields:

What did the students take away from the ambassadors’ visit?
What qualities and prerequisites should one have for vocational training?
Explain which careers would suit you—or why they wouldn’t.

Maintain and utilize contacts: Remind your students once again that they can use the contacts they’ve established with the apprenticeship ambassadors to inquire about internships or apprenticeships at their respective businesses or companies.

Please also feel free to share the contact information for the organizing institution; we’re always happy to answer any questions you may have about vocational training.

Please stay in touch with the organizers as well, and feel free to share feedback and the results of the ambassadors’ involvement!

If you are interested in involving training ambassadors in your lessons, you can contact the institutions responsible for the respective occupational fields directly using the information below

Overview of Institutions and Occupational Fields

Hanover Chamber of Crafts

The Hanover Chamber of Crafts is a modern, high-performing public-law corporation. Based on its statutory mandate under the Crafts and Trades Code, it represents the interests of craft businesses, their employees, and apprentices vis-à-vis policymakers, the business community, society, and the general public.

In addition to advocating for these interests, carrying out public functions, and providing vocational training, it offers its member businesses a wide range of consulting and support services.

This includes the area of “recruiting the next generation of talent,” among other things, through the use of training ambassadors from the following sectors:

Engines & Mobility
Paints, Glass & Ceramics
Electronics & Digitalization
Metal & Machinery
Food & Beverage
Water, Climate & Sustainability
People & Health
Construction, Finishing & Wood
Office & Organization
Fashion & Styling
Music, Visual Arts & Media

Contact

Leonie Wilkending

Training Advisor, specializing in “Recruiting the Next Generation for the Skilled Trades”

Phone: 0511/34859 521

Email: wilkending@hwk-hannover.de

Hanover Chamber of Industry and Commerce

The Hanover Chamber of Industry and Commerce represents the interests of the business community in its chamber district. It counts approximately 180,000 companies among its members and acts as an intermediary between the government and the business community.

Under the Vocational Training Act, the Chamber is the competent authority for all matters related to vocational training, particularly with regard to examinations. Every apprenticeship contract is registered in a directory of vocational training relationships, and upon registration, the suitability of the training company and the trainer (in accordance with the Trainer Qualification Ordinance) is verified. The IHK Hannover oversees approximately 27,000 apprenticeship relationships across more than 180 different apprenticeship occupations.

Approximately 500,000 high school graduates begin an apprenticeship each year. At the IHK, you’ll find occupations ranging from A for “Plant Mechanic” to I for “IT Systems Specialist” or P for “Pharmacy Technician,” all the way to Z for “Bicycle Mechatronics Technician.”

The IHK is the right point of contact for many other professions in the commercial sector, industry, IT, and retail.

If you have questions about specific professions, you can find the correct contact information here

Occupational Fields

Electrical Engineering
Metalworking and Manufacturing
Laboratory Professions
Chemical Industry
Food production
Surveying
Textiles
Creative professions
Manufacturing professions
Industrial and technical professions
Retail and Office (Business Professions)
Banking/Insurance/Real Estate
Hospitality/Food Service
Freight Forwarding/Logistics,
Transport
IT/Media

Contact

Frank Willmann
Phone: 0511 3107-4 81
Email:frank.willmann@hannover.ihk.de
Website: www.hannover.ihk.de

Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture

The Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture (LWK) represents the professional interests of employers and employees in agriculture, forestry, and horticulture. The Chamber’s primary responsibilities include providing advice and offering training, continuing education, and professional development to employers and employees in agriculture and forestry.

The LWK is the agency responsible for 12 green apprenticeship programs

Farmer, Gardener, Home Economist, Agricultural Services Specialist, Equine Specialist, Animal Husbandry Specialist, Aquaculture Specialist, Dairy Technologist, Dairy Laboratory Technician, Forestry Specialist, Game Warden, Plant Technologist).

Occupational fields: Professions in horticulture

Horticulturist (Ornamental Plants), Horticulturist (Fruit Growing)
Horticulturist (Perennial Nursery)
Nursery Gardener
Vegetable Grower
Cemetery Gardener
Gardener in Garden and Landscape Design

Contact:

Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture
Horticulture Division
Horticulture Vocational Training Division
Heisterbergallee 12
30453 Hanover
Phone: 0511 4005 2406
Cell: 0151 75864722
Email: christine.hahne@lwk-niedersachsen.de

“Jobs for Life” Project (Care and Education)

The training ambassadors from the nursing and childcare professions are part of the pilot project “Careers for Life.” The trainees receive training and actively participate in the Hannover region through their presentations, testimonials, and hands-on activities—for example, in career orientation classes, in specialized or elective courses at general education schools, or at career fairs.

The project is sponsored by the association “Ausbildung im Verbund pro regio e.V.” It is funded by the Hanover Region and the Hanover Employment Agency.

Occupational fields:

Care and Education

Your contact:

pro regio e.V.

“BERUFE fürs Leben” Project (Care and Education)

Sara Wehly (Education Professions)
s.wehly@proregioev.de
Phone: 05173-92590-15

Best Job Ever

Since 2024, #bestjobever – let’s talk live! has been bringing apprentices and students together in person through “Apprentice Talks.” At a school in the Hannover region, the apprentices talk about their careers, their daily routines at work, and their typical tasks. About 50 to 100 students take part in the event.

The students can ask questions and interact with the apprentices. Afterward, #bestjobever offers engaging hands-on activities—planned and led by the apprentices themselves—to give students an even deeper insight into the various careers.

For more information about the project and insights from past editions, visit our website: www.best-job-ever.de

The project is organized by Handwerkskammer Hannover Projekt- und Servicegesellschaft mbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hannover Chamber of Crafts. It was founded in 2002 to develop, plan, and implement training and consulting projects. In carrying out its projects, PSG focuses on three key areas related to the skilled workforce: skilled workers of the future, skilled workforce potential, and securing the skilled workforce.

The project is funded by the Region of Hanover and the Hanover branch of the Federal Employment Agency.

Occupational fields:

All industries

Contact:

Hanover Chamber of Crafts Project and Service Company, LLC
Seeweg 4
30827 Garbsen
www.hwk-psg.de

Alwina Bonnke
Phone: 05131 9910 – 107
bestjobever@hwk-psg.de

Logistics in Schools

“Logistik macht Schule” is a project focused on career guidance and fostering the next generation of talent in the logistics, transportation, and traffic industries. The goal is to inform students early on about the diverse training and career opportunities within logistics and to connect companies with potential young talent.

“Logistics in Schools” provides hands-on insights into the world of logistics. Students learn about the operations of modern supply chains, transportation processes, and warehouse logistics, and receive information on apprenticeship programs, continuing education opportunities, and career paths within the industry.

More information

The Hannover Region, through the Department of Economic and Employment Promotion (
), is a strategic partner and provides proportional funding for the initiative.