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Career Guidance in the Life Course – Structures and Services in Germany
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3.3 Study and career guidance in Special HE teams respectively higher education
Higher Education guidance practitioners have been established in those
EAs which are located in areas with large universities.
In general, by legislation of the Länder, Higher Education These teams provide a special counselling service for stu-
institutions are supposed to provide information and guid- dents and graduates, as well as placement services for
ance for HE students and applicants and to co-operate with graduates and unemployed persons with a higher educa-
other actors in this respect. tion degree. The teams normally offer their services on the
premises of the university as well as in EAs.
Central counselling services and
faculty-based guidance
In addition to the public services which are based in
Nearly all institutions of higher education maintain a schools, HE institutions and employment agencies, nu-
central counselling service which provides students merous private and semi-private career guidance practi-
with orientation and information on all study-related ques- tioners and management consultancy firms, as well as
tions: choosing a university, choosing a field or course of private training companies, offer guidance to students
study, study programmes, and examination regulations, as and university graduates, often charging fees while the
well as counselling regarding learning difficulties or person- other described guidance services are publicly funded.
al problems. This service also offers special courses on is-
sues like examination preparation, self-organisation, stress 3.4 Guidance in the fields of employment,
and time management. In addition to face-to-face counsel- continuing education and unemployment
ling, most student counselling services maintain a self-help
information area and organise information events for up- Services of Employment Agencies and Job Centres
per secondary graduates as well as introductory courses for
freshmen. Here, co-operation is essential with a variety of The EAs offer – in addition to placement services and un-
partners including upper secondary schools, the EAs, scien- employment insurance benefits – career guidance as a
tific and academic institutions, and employers’ associations. public service free-of-charge to all citizens irrespective
of their age, education status or individual working and liv-
Decentralised faculty-based expert guidance and ing conditions. According to a Federal law (Social Code III,
information on subject-related matters are provided by §§ 29–33), this service is a legal obligation of the FEA.
designated professors or scientific staff, who fulfil this
function alongside their research and teaching jobs. Career guidance and counselling is more than ever per-
ceived as a continuing process throughout the educational
Other services in Higher Education
and working life, from educational and career choices to
job changes, including any phases of unemployment, up
Most German HE institutions have established Career Ser-
vices/Centres which offer support in the transition from to retirement.
university to employment through special training cours-
es, career fairs and other labour-market-related events. Accordingly, the EAs provide information and guidance
Career Services usually collaborate with experts from the related to all questions of career choice and career devel-
local EA, employers’ associations, chambers of commerce opment, types of training or study course, occupational
and crafts and local or global enterprises. Moreover, they change and mobility, further training and retraining, place-
increasingly engage in reforming study programmes and ment and self-employment, as well as to all labour-market-
in developing core competences so that graduates may related issues including labour market schemes and finan-
better meet labour market requirements. cial assistance. Although guidance offered by the EA is
comprehensive and very well developed for students and
The student support service (Studentenwerk) is re- school leavers, in practice for a long time the service for
sponsible for students’ social affairs including housing, adults has focused mainly on the registered unemployed
canteens, financial assistance, and family affairs. They pro- and those at risk of becoming unemployed. Guidance for
vide counselling in social and personal matters but also employed adults shall be strengthened through the ex-
on student job opportunities. Some of these services also tension of guidance on continuous education through so-
offer career counselling. called “continuous education counsellors”.

International students and students going abroad Guidance and placement are facilitated by a wide va-
receive guidance on various topics from the Foreign riety of printed and online media (see page 15). In addi-
Exchange Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of the uni- tion to information portals on occupations and continuous
versities. education the FEA offers electronic matching (Online-Job-