Guide for companies

Starting point/challenge

To enable employers wanting to recruit skilled workers from abroad to get to grips with the many paragraphs and all of their responsibilities, the IQ Immigration Information Centre for Skilled Workers (South and East Brandenburg) in the Brandenburg IQ regional network has produced a practical guide for companies entitled "The beginner's guide to skilled worker immigration". It provides specific case studies from practice showing what would ideally happen over the course of an immigration procedure, its likely duration and the responsibilities in each case.

The publication was created in cooperation with the IQ Competence Centre for Immigration and with the assistance of the IQ Competence Centre for Advisory Services and Job Training of Migrants.

Because small and medium-sized companies often only have limited time available for dealing with the issue of skilled worker immigration, employees at the subproject "IQ Immigration Information Centre for Skilled Workers (South and East Brandenburg)" in the Brandenburg IQ regional network, responsible for the brochure, searched out additional channels of communication. They had the idea of turning the brochure into an audio format and offering a podcast series which would provide the content in a different form.

Product implementation

To create the podcast, the existing brochure material was divided into seven episodes, based on their topic, and the language was adapted. The text was recorded and edited using professional equipment, and the sound quality was adjusted afterwards.

So that it resembled a typical podcast, an "intro" and "outro" were used to create a beginning and end. Effects were added to the audio to provide emphasis in certain places. A lot of work was involved in the production and in adapting the sound, which required professional equipment to achieve an acceptable sound quality.

The podcast series is divided thematically into episodes and, with one exception, these generally do not last for more than ten minutes. At this length it can be listened to in peace on the train or on the way to work in the car. Using timestamps and links in the episode description, users can easily find helpful and interesting information tailored specifically to what they might want to listen to.

Once production was completed the podcast was hosted and published on the usual streaming platforms. The brochure and the podcast are also regularly promoted at specialist events and on social media.

Conclusion

The small audio format of the beginner's guide to skilled worker immigration offers an alternative to reading and is an innovative way of acquiring knowledge provided by IQ content.

Awareness of the IQ Immigration Information Centre for Skilled Workers for South and East Brandenburg has risen significantly as a result of the podcast. It has been possible to successfully communicate the brochure content to further interested parties. Positive feedback and comments on social media platforms confirm the success of the product.