Young professionals showcase their abilities

Many a barbecue would remain bare without professionals like Matthias Schuler. The 17-year-old works at Migros subsidiary Micarna in Bazenheid, where he looks after the sausage-making machines. The youngster is a budding polymechanic in the third year of his apprenticeship and already bears a lot of responsibility. For example, he makes customised spare parts for Micarna systems in the company's workshop.

Careful work is extremely important to the man from eastern Switzerland. "I want a new chrome-steel machine part to fit perfectly," he says. "It should also look nice and mustn't be scratched in any way."

Precision work in front of an audience

The apprentice will soon be able to showcase his abilities in front of an interested audience: That's because he'll be participating in SwissSkills, a national vocational competition held in Bern in mid-September. More than 1100 young professionals from over 90 professions will be tasked with solving tricky tasks in their respective field under the watchful eyes of strict judges. Six talented youngsters will represent Migros at this year's competition, a major event that is only staged every other year. We met and spoke to three of them.

The trio includes 20-year-old Lenny Angst, a computer engineer specialising in application development, who works at the Federation of Migros cooperative in Zurich. The work he does on his computer can be seen at all Migros stores. Among other things, he programs the electronic price tags on shelves and ensures that customers can redeem their Cumulus vouchers within the Migros app. He too is a perfectionist. "I want to program as best as I possibly can," he says. "There's nothing worse than badly written code that has to be reworked later."

At first glance, the third member of this small gathering seems to work in a different world entirely. She's 23-year-old Valentina Winkler – a specialist in exercise and health promotion. Whereas her two male colleagues wrestle with machines and codes, she has direct contact with people at two fitness centres in Bern and Ostermundigen. As a coach, she looks after an extremely wide range of customers, from 30-year-old marathon runners to 95-year-olds who mainly want to remain independent. Winkler works with people from both ends of the spectrum, helping them by providing customised training and nutritional tips.

"It's great when I hear about success stories afterwards," she says. "For example, when an elderly person tells me that he can now climb stairs again thanks to his training." She's also delighted when careful preparation results in an extremely fit runner beating her personal best. In other words, Valentina Winkler too always wants to do her job as well as possible. Working to rule is just as alien a concept to her as it is to her other two young colleagues.

High hurdles before the competition

In spite of all their abilities, the trio we interviewed assured us that participation in the SwissSkills championships was by no means guaranteed. In order to qualify, they first had to pass tough tests devised by experts from their respective professional associations – and do so under enormous pressure. Matthias Schuler, for example, had to build an pneumatic motor from unfinished parts in a very short space of time. "You only got one try," he recalls. "If I had machined just one part incorrectly, I wouldn't have been able to get any replacement material. They would have failed me straight away."

So why do three talented young people put themselves through such stress? Why go through more tests and exams so soon after successfully starting their careers? For all three, it's about more than just a podium finish. "I'd also like to meet other IT specialists in Bern and see how they solve problems," says Lenny Angst. Matthias Schuler is excited to learn about new materials and processing techniques. All three Migros professionals not only want to win at the championships, they also want to learn.

Incidentally, SwissSkills isn't unknown territory for Lenny Angst or Valentina Winkler. They both took part in the last event, in 2022. Back then, Valentina only just missed out on a podium finish. Now, they're both making another attempt. Perseverance is therefore clearly one of their many talents.