Bridge into work for economists
The "IQ Bridge Course for Economists" run by the Paritätisches Bildungswerk Bremen (PBW) aims to help graduates with economics degrees earned abroad and language knowledge at B2 level to gain appropriate employment in Germany. In the project, course participants learn the requirements of everyday life at work, their professional skills are enhanced and they recive coaching during the job search period.
"Economists are in an unregulated sphere of work, they don't necessarily need a recognition of their foreign degrees to be allowed to work," says Heike Krautschun-Lindner, course leader and coach. Nevertheless, a recognition procedure and an examination of equivalence to the German reference qualification may be advantageous. So what needs to be done? In the course participants tackle this and other questions about getting into the labour market.
A good Mix is key
The first course has been completed, with 15 participants from all over the world. "Four have already found a job, six are still being coached, two ended the course prematurely and three are studying or gaining further qualifications," Krautschun-Lindner says, going through her list. "They all have a direction," she stresses. The course leader briefly summarizes the recipe for success: modularized and individualized offers. The IQ course teaches hard and soft skills: business German, project and quality management, IT and career training, communications and public speaking. "We advise and coach our participants according to their needs," Krautschun-Lindner continues. Because what is the point if someone has the required profile for a job but is not capable of selling himself or herself because he/she is not familiar with the customs here? "We simulate job interviews," she says, "because the participants often underestimate that demeanor, gestures and facial expressions also count, as well as language skills." People are socialized in different ways, e.g. what we see as marked feminine demeanor, as is often seen in women from eastern Europe, is perceived as unassertive and unprofessional, regardless whether the applicant has three degrees or not.
A productive student-teacher relationship
For Anna Prusko, a participant in the first course and still being coached, the virtual relationship with the course teachers is what is special: "They are more than just teachers, they are friends; I can call them and ask them something any time !" The 29-year-old woman comes from a small town in Masuria, Poland and love brought her to Bremen in 2013. At first she asked herself what she was doing here, as an academic who was stacking boxes in a warehouse and completed language courses at the adult education centre. Why had she done a master's degree in international relations, human resources and a bachelor's in tourism? How long would it take to get somewhere in Germany? When she heard about the IQ Bridge Course for Economists in an information email, she knew that this was precisely the missing element for her. "Everything that we have learned here, Excel, project management, business German, was super for me!" the young woman confirms and stresses"obviously I knew a lot of the content already, but not in German. I got a lot from it."
The trickiness of job applications
She has now found a part-time job in a small logistics company. The bridge course helped her with this. "Even writing applications is difficult," she says, reflectively, "because what do Germans find important?" In Poland, application letters are not written as formally as they are here; resumes don't have a photo. These are all things that you don't know when you want to gain a foothold on the labour market here. She is now looking for a full-time job and is continuing to apply. Krautschun-Lindner helps her to further optimize her application strategies. "Here I keep hearing that I am still young and have enough time to establish my career," she says in surprise, grinning. "In Poland, however, I'm already considered old!" The ambitious young woman would like to stay in Bremen. "The people here are great, not as nervy as in Hamburg," where she did an internship, "people from Bremen are much more relaxed!"
