Competitions and talent tracks — Danish Championships in Skills and WorldSkills

Not all career paths in the trade are about apprenticeship and journeyman's test alone. Trade competitions have become a fixed part of Danish vocational training culture, and for a furniture carpenter they can be a shortcut to becoming more skilled, more visible and more confident in the trade.

§National Championships in Skills

DM i Skills is Denmark's major annual championship for young people in vocational education, where around 300 young people compete to become Danish masters in their trade. Furniture making is among the trades competed in, along with many other craft trades such as carpentry. The event is organised by SkillsDenmark, which is also behind Denmark's participation in EuroSkills and WorldSkills.

§The path to World Skills — EuroSkills and WorldSkills

The best from the Danish Skills Championship can go on to represent Denmark at EuroSkills and then at WorldSkills — the actual world championship for skilled tradespeople and young craftspeople, which takes place every other year (most recently in Lyon 2024 and Shanghai 2026). Here the best young craftspeople from around the world meet and solve tasks under tight time pressure and with rigorous evaluation criteria.

§Eksempel fra 2026

At the 2026 DM in Skills, Andreas Møller Simonsen from Herningsholm Business School & Gymnasium won, in collaboration with his apprenticeship Multiform A/S, in the furniture cabinet maker category. Such results show that it is not only the qualified masters who set the standard in the trade — tomorrow's journeymen do too while they are still in training.

§What does participation give you

• 01Sharper and faster craftsmanship skills under time pressure
• 02Networking with other students schools and companies in the industry
• 03Visibility to employers looking for talented people
• 04Experience with being assessed against fixed, high quality standards.

§How to get involved

You are typically nominated by your school or apprenticeship supervisor, often after an internal selection among your class or company students. Show interest early to your instructors, practice previous competition tasks if the school has them, and ask for feedback on both speed and precision — often both determine the outcome.

§Other ways to become visible in the trade

Competitions are not the only way. A portfolio of your own work, preferably with images of the process and finished result, and visible presence — for example on social media or at local exhibitions — can do just as much to be noticed in an industry where reputation and visible craftsmanship count.

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