Veolia Energia Magyarország Zrt. welcomed 35 students and their accompanying teacher from one of the 10th grade classes of Illyés Gyula High School and Vocational High School in Budaörs as part of its ‘Yes WEDO’ program. The aim of the event organized by the HR Department was to present the activities of the Veolia Group, provide young people facing specialization with an insight into the company’s efforts towards sustainability, the protection of the environment, and biodiversity within Veolia’s social group responsibility, and to address the importance and implementation of gender diversity and professional equality.
In the first half of the program, Beáta Márai, Head of Internal Communications, presented the history of the Veolia Group and the activities of the various business lines, highlighting areas probably lesser known to young people, such as environmentally friendly wastewater treatment, the energy recovery of discarded Christmas trees in the framework of the circular economic model, and the recycling of glass waste materials. Then, Balázs Kerekgyártó, in charge of environmental management, spoke about the importance of preserving biodiversity and presented the biodiversity projects already implemented or planned at the sites of the Veolia Group: tree planting programmes, insect hotels and bird feeders, etc.
The second part of the meeting focussed on career guidance, when Katalin Király, Head of HR Developments summed up what competences companies expect from a prospective employee and highlighted the many possibilities open to girls should they choose a career in the nature sciences. Through the presentation of an interesting research, she pointed out that it is not enough to achieve success individually, but the ability to cooperate and work in teams with others is also very important for a company. It is in fact possible to set up a super team from average people if the team members can work together. Ágnes Balogh, Head of Training, took a playful approach for pointing out the gender stereotypes existing in the professional world and the different expectations that the two sexes have with regard to workplaces.
The program was closed by Zsuzsanna Francz, Head of Occupational and Fire Safety, who became successful in a profession that society considers masculine. She talked to the audience about her career path and shared her experiences without concealing the difficulties.
The students’ questions confirmed that they were interested in the topics raised during the program, and they were happy to get an insight into how to make a career at a large company. Hopefully, this program will help the students make their career choices more easily.
