In January 2022 we launched “Unexplored Futures” Dialectica’s own CSR program in collaboration with The Tipping Point. By the end of it, 500+ high school students from different schools around Greece will have been linked with mentors from Dialectica and the 100mentors platform over various subject sessions. The aim is to bring them in touch with untapped professions and future sectors that will lead the economy and thus encourage them to unlock new and different career options. But what is the inspiration behind “Unexplored Futures” and how are we able to contribute to youth’s professional decision making in a meaningful way?
As a business that operates in a relatively unknown industry itself, we recognize well that there is a gap between existing career opportunities and the information available about them. This gap needs to be filled and the nature of our business puts us in a position to help with that. Dialectica is an information services company that partners with the world’s top business professionals enabling them to collect real-time information and market insights from industry experts across markets, industries, and regions. We are here to shape better business decision making worldwide. Our business model combined with our talented team can help students across different regions in the country to discover unexplored professions, emerging sectors and industries enabling them to make more informed career decisions. According to Elen Maniatis, Client Service Senior Manager at Dialectica, and mentor, “the program can really help young students figure out their next steps. From my experience as a mentor in the program, today many students wonder: “What am I going to do with my studies? Which industry should I choose?” I truly believe that many people from Dialectica can share their experiences and offer some insights on this! At Dialectica we all come from very different backgrounds; making a career change can seem daunting, however through these sessions, I realized that young people today are interested in trying different things and exploring different options. This is truly inspiring.”
With The Tipping Point’s help, we connect with schools all around Greece; so far six schools from Athens, Patras, Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Crete, 295 students and 9 teachers as coordinators have participated in 21 sessions. Together with the mentors, the students discuss a wide range of topics such as teenage inspiration, space travel, career development, stress management and biomedical sciences. “It is impressive that nowadays students have the opportunity to be in touch with professionals from all disciplines who are able to offer a 360-degree view of the market and broaden their horizons. I received questions that I had in my mind when I was in high-school and felt lucky and honored to be the person I wanted to hear from in my school years”, says Constantis Simeonidis, Client Service Manager at Dialectica and mentor. Considering various factors, such as the recent economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and current geopolitical changes, the need for mentoring when leaving school and entering the adult world only makes sense. Andreas Papageorgiou, teacher at the 6th High School of Kallithea points out: “Through the program, our students are given the opportunity to communicate with important – people – professionals from different sectors and learn not only from their knowledge and experience but mainly from their example. At the same time, their perception is broadened, making the sessions useful in the context of the implementation of the school curriculum.”
Moving forward and as this year’s school season is coming to an end, ”Unexplored Futures” is set to continue spreading knowledge with more sessions already planned for the remainder of this season as well as the start of the next one in September. Our vision is to support the future leaders finding the tools and developing the skills that in the long run will help them to succeed in all their endeavors. This is why our mentors don’t focus exclusively on speaking about specific markets and business models, but also highlighting the importance of developing soft skills such as problem solving, innovation and agility to further explore the world.
The future may be unknown, but with some guidance, support and curiosity, it offers great discoveries. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for more updates on Unexplored Futures!
