How do I find out what is available?
Perhaps you are wondering what your child needs in terms of effective career orientation. Every school in Baden-Württemberg has its own school policy for career orientation. Each school implements various measures to advise, help and support children and young adults in the process of career orientation.
Inner orientation: From as early as Year 5, young people are encouraged to explore their own interests, abilities and values. Children need to know what they can do and what is important to them. Only then can they discover the pathways that suit them.
External orientation: During their time at school, young people are introduced to a wide range of professions and fields of work, including through research, company visits and internships. In this way, they gain experience themselves and form a realistic picture of the world of work.
Young people sort through the impressions they gain, reflect on them and decide where their personal pathway will take them. Teachers, advisers from the Employment Agency and other partners support them in this. This process often does not lead directly to the end goal: many issues arise repeatedly through a child’s time at school and are dealt with step by step.
The aim is to decide on a profession and to take action to pursue it: students plan their next steps and gradually implement them as independently as possible. The school supports this process, provides guidance and highlights options so that the transition works smoothly.
Schools use many different approaches to career orientation. You can find an overview of the measures on the CO pages of the Centre for School Quality and Teacher Training: Homepage - CO-BW
The career orientation process
Abbildung: Erstellt von Dorothee Hermann-Helmer und von Ilona Hirth grafisch umgesetzt, Illustration: Franziska Herrmann
Students are able to go through each step several times.
To support this process individually, schools work with tools such as BOaktiv and the berufswahlapp.
The basis for a successful career choice is pursuing personal interests, identifying your own abilities and formulating life goals: What am I interested in? What can I do? What do I want? With the help of BOaktiv, young people can discover their strengths, abilities and interests. The school uses the berufswahlapp to help students throughout the entire process of their career choice.
You also play an important part in many areas: you can supplement the results of the BOaktiv skills analysis with your perspective as a parent or guardian. You can also discuss individual stages and results from the berufswahlapp with your child. You will certainly be able to back up many of the findings, but some will surprise you, and you will probably be able to contribute a lot from your everyday observations.
The world of work and career opportunities is more complex than ever before. Students are therefore taught where and how to find reliable information about careers. They meet training and study ambassadors and other representatives from the world of work (for example at careers fairs) and are given an overview of what their options are. Young people increasingly come into contact with the world of work independently and can gain practical experience, for example on practical days (such as Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day) and through one-day or multi-day work placements.
Take advantage of the information events organised by your school and accompany your child to careers information fairs and other events. This will give you an overview of the career opportunities in today’s world of work. This is the basis for starting a dialogue with your child.
Opportunities for practical experience are prepared and followed up through a wide variety of tasks and discussions. Your child will find out how their strengths, interests and values fit in with the conditions and requirements of the world of work. As a result, they will develop more concrete ideas about career pathways and can get relevant advice from the Employment Agency, for example. In this way, your child will increasingly narrow down their choice of training or study.
It’s a good idea to discuss career choices in detail with your child. On the one hand, it can be very exciting to follow their career aspirations, which may change frequently. On the other, it’s important to support your child in difficult times, to encourage them and look for new opportunities together.
Your child has finally made a decision. Now they have to plan and implement the next steps. They will receive support in this process. Among other things, your child will learn how to plan their time and activities and make contact with potential employers. They will receive help in gathering further information on their own and applying for additional work placements, preparing application documents and practising for job interviews.
The school can provide the impetus, but the young people have to take many of these steps independently outside school. Support your child in everything related to these tasks: perhaps they would appreciate a little feedback on their application documents or hints and tips for upcoming job interviews.
My child can find information on these sites.
meinBeruf
The portal of the Federal Employment Agency supports young people with reliable information and helpful services relating to training, studying and applying for jobs:
Still no plan? What now?: analysis of strengths and weaknesses and various online tests to identify them
Careers and pathways: discover different career areas and explore professions of interest
Internships: all the important information about internships, preparing for them and following them up
Training: everything you need to know about training, looking for a training place and support options during training
Studying: everything you need to know about studying – from finding a place to counselling and support services during your studies
Applications: information about applying for an internship, training or university place
130 Chancen
Here you will find information about apprenticeships in the skilled trades.
BerufeChecker | Das Handwerk
This site provides information about all the training opportunities in the skilled trades.
Lehrstellenbörse Handwerkskammer
This is the apprenticeship exchange site of the Chamber of Trade and includes specific job offers from companies in the skilled trades sector.
Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day
Here you will find information about Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day.
Study information for Baden-Württemberg
Here you will find an overview of all the topics that are important to consider before, during and after studying.
was-studiere-ich.de
Orientation Test (OT): Every applicant in Baden-Württemberg must take part in an orientation process. The tests help you to find a suitable degree programme.
Work placement week
During work placement weeks, your child can complete individual work placement days in one or more companies and thus familiarise themselves with different professional fields. You will find details about the next cycle on the website.
