Lots of new developments in school-to-work transition management

What comes after school, how do I write an application and how do I impress in a job interview? "As the end of school approaches, many young people are faced with the question of what to do next. Even though numerous companies are vying for young talent, the path to an apprenticeship is often rocky," says Mayor Sabine Groß. Sometimes the grades are not sufficient for the training goal or there is a lack of knowledge about how to formulate a written application. "The school-to-work transition management has been successfully ensuring that the transition from school to a career is successful in Offenbach for many years," continues Groß.

For almost a year now, Alexander Wilhelm and Claudius Eicher from the IdeA project (Impulse der Arbeitsmarktpolitik) have been working closely with the city's secondary schools to provide careers guidance, job application workshops and individual preparation for recruitment tests and interviews. In addition, both organize local careers information days and fairs with many committed training companies to give young people interesting insights into the world of work.

"There is a huge amount of interest," reports Brigitte Kümbel, head of the school-to-work transition management team: "After school, there are many different options for what to do next. With over 300 possible training occupations in Germany, it is not always easy to find the right one. It was therefore important for us to find colleagues for this project who, in addition to a pedagogical background, also have operational experience. Both have previously completed a commercial apprenticeship and therefore know how the vocational training system works in Germany."

Claudius Eicher and Alexander Wilhelm recently counted the 111th participant in their job application club and are seeing an increasing number of applications. "We provide very unbureaucratic support. The students come to us with a wide variety of concerns and we try to respond to them in the best possible way," says Alexander Wilhelm and Claudius Eicher adds: "Some are here for a longer period of time and write applications for apprenticeships and FOS internships, others have their documents checked and others train for the selection process in individual or group training. Everyone comes with what they need at the time."