BUSINESS
There Are No Bad Business Ideas,
Only Those That Never Leave
the Drawing Board
The age of traditional efforts to prepare students for a desk-based career is already past its prime.
The careers of modern students will be built upon entirely new challenges linked with not only
knowledge gained in their studies but also the search for personal development. Working on the
establishment of a startup project will become an irreplaceably necessary experience and conducting
business alongside studies will become standard. This is definitely a possible future for universities
that adopt creativity as part of their campus culture and VŠB-TUO is a great example of this.
Ms Šimoníková, you have been the head of the
Career centre at VŠB-TUO for three years now.
You have been in the business of supporting the
growth of ideas, individuals and teams for many
years. What is your opinion on the young people you
and your team work with?
Today’s youth has the same wants and needs as we
used to have. Some strive to enjoy life to the fullest,
others look for opportunities to develop themselves;
a difference that I have noticed, however, is that most
young people today are more willing to devote their
efforts to activities they enjoy and make sense to
them. Essentially, they are more focused on personal
development. On the other hand, activities that seem
fruitless and bear a sort of discomfort are very unpopular
and are only done on an unavoidably necessary scale.
20 ǀ POSITIV 4/2021
Sometimes I wonder, though, if that was the way we
used to do it, as well.
What is your favorite part of working with students?
Does it inspire you in some way?
You see, for us, working with students is a little bit of
a double-edged sword, motivating in some respects
but demotivating in others. We share in the joys of
successes we take part in, however, sometimes we
have a little sigh to ourselves wondering where the will
and perseverance of young folk has gone. Some things
have been made easier for them than they were for us;
they are offered so many opportunities. Fortunately,
eventually we are always reminded that we cannot
compare our environments this way; we can only
accept, encourage and help when needed.