Bringing Young People into Vocational Training

Since the beginning of 2023, the apprenticeship ambassadors funded by the district of Gießen have been on behalf of the IHK Gießen-Friedberg. As part of career orientation in general education schools, apprentices in their second or third year of training provide information about their training occupations, the reasons for their career choice, and career opportunities. What does the daily work routine look like? What subjects are taught at vocational school? What are my chances on the job market after training? These and many other questions are gladly answered by the young women and men. The advantage is that the ambassadors are still in training.

For their assignments, the apprenticeship ambassadors are prepared by project coordinator Susanne Parisi. Not only do students benefit from the project, but also training companies, which can attract potential applicants in school circles through their apprentices. But the project is also beneficial for schools, as they receive individual career orientation offerings. "We are pleased that more and more schools and companies are participating in the initiative," emphasizes Schelberg.

In 2023, the IHK Department for Vocational Training and Further Education established three new consulting offices: a welcome liaison officer for refugees, as well as two employees for the topics of inclusion and tailored recruitment. "The projects have started very well," says Kai Schelberg. "The employees have already built networks and introduced themselves at trade fairs and in committees."

Isabel Kleck's task is to support companies in the tailored recruitment of apprentices. Just as Isabel Kleck supports companies in finding suitable apprentices, she helps young people find a suitable apprenticeship position.

The "Tailored Recruitment" program is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Refugee Welcome Liaison Officer The "Welcome Liaison Officer" project is part of the "Tailored Recruitment" program and is supervised by Berivan Moslem. Her tasks are similar to those of Isabel Kleck, but the consultant focuses on refugees and young people from abroad, whom she not only places in training but also in long-term internships, pre-qualification measures, and employment. Berivan Moslem and Isabel Kleck work closely with all stakeholders in the field of career orientation. The funding for the welcome liaison officer comes from the BMWK budget.

The third member is Samantha Fischer, who as an inclusion specialist advises member companies on the possibilities and framework conditions of training and employing severely disabled people. In addition, she assists with the application for funding. The "Inclusion Specialist Advice" is 100 percent funded by the Hessian State Welfare Association Integration Office (LWV Hessen Integrationsamt). If you are looking for skilled workers, you can contact the competent consultants.

Comprehensive information about the regional training offer in industry, trade, and services is provided to students in the brochure "School and What Comes Next?" Especially high-achieving school leavers should be motivated to apply for an apprenticeship position. The brochure is not only distributed free of charge to general education schools but is also available on the internet. Companies have the opportunity to advertise their business with an advertisement here.

The training atlas shows the location of around 1,300 training companies in the district of the IHK Gießen-Friedberg and which professions they train. "Our atlas is filling up more and more," emphasizes Kai Schelberg. "Currently, around 130 professions can be found here. By the way, companies can enter their training offer free of charge." In addition, the IHK was able to acquire 94 apprenticeships and 24 internships in this year's follow-up placement campaign.

To draw attention to its broad consulting offer, the IHK Department for Vocational Training and Further Education not only invites to the annual training fair "Career Compass" but is also a regular guest at other trade fairs. The dedicated employees are also participating in the first nationwide apprentice campaign of the IHKs, which has been running since March 2023 under the motto "Now #canlearn." The goal is to show the whole country and especially the young generation together: Vocational training makes more out of us.

In the district of the IHK Gießen-Friedberg, around 1,300 companies are involved in dual vocational training. Together, they train around 5,000 apprentices in over 130 different professions. The IHK's training advisors support training companies in planning, implementing, and optimizing their training activities. Through individual advice to entrepreneurs, apprentices, and their legal guardians, as well as other players in the training market, and through the monitoring of training activities, they make a significant contribution to quality assurance in dual training. During their training, apprentices take an intermediate examination and a final examination or a staggered final examination. The IHK Gießen-Friedberg's examination officers organize around 3,500 final examinations annually. The conduct of high-quality and practice-oriented examinations is ensured by the commitment of around 900 volunteer examiners, who are organized in over 250 examination committees.

Young people and their training companies can also receive support during training from the Federal Employment Agency. The Federal Employment Agency's funding instruments, which can support companies both in their search and during training, are often not yet known to companies. With the offer of "Assisted Training," apprentices receive needs-based support and educational support as well as socio-pedagogical support - in terms of content and time-oriented to the individual support needs of the participants as well as the needs and framework conditions of the companies. Companies can also take advantage of the support of assisted training during the training period as desired. During this time, an apprenticeship support worker is available to both participants and their companies as a point of contact.