A good application is not yet a successful one
Step 6: Apprenticeship search or school enrolment
Written application documents are often like two peas in a pod. HR managers are nevertheless able to filter out differences.
Looking for an apprenticeship means getting over yourself, calling, presenting yourself. But it also means accepting a negative decision and continuing to apply. And this as a young person who is just beginning to discover the adult world. The temptation for mothers and fathers to give their own child a helping hand is great - after all, you are on the phone to other professionals every day and know how to make a convincing impression.
In the Internet age, however, it is not only fathers and mothers who can intervene in the application process: Various application templates can be downloaded online, along with possible wording for letters of motivation. «Letters of application often don't say much anymore,» says Claudia Emmenegger. As the manager of the Kibe childcare centre in Wädenswil, she has been recruiting apprentices for the profession of childcare specialist for years. When she advertises an apprenticeship, a pile of standardised application letters ends up in her letterbox.
Convincing personal applications
Ashley Stutz, CEO of Stutz Medien AG, regularly trains media technicians, media technologists, polygraphers, interactive media designers and commercial employees at her company. Her experience with application letters is correspondingly extensive. «If someone obviously makes an effort to personalise the letter, that's a huge plus.» The same applies if the application documents are complete and no document has been forgotten.
How can you score points in an interview? Punctuality - and a few questions in your luggage.
Jens Engelhardt, Managing Director of Acqua Verde Hairstyling, also appreciates it when someone also calls. «Hearing the voice makes the person behind the application more tangible.» He therefore conducts a 15-minute video call with all applicants before deciding who to invite for an interview.
Emmenegger, Engelhardt and Stutz pay attention to how someone turns up for the interview, whether he or she is on time and has a few questions. «If someone has noticeably read the website and familiarised themselves with the subject matter, that certainly speaks in their favour,» emphasises the crèche manager. However, it is sometimes tricky: the applicants are young, so too much maturity should not be expected. «Some are also shy, hardly speak at all and then suddenly they're great at taster sessions.»
Find your own path in seven steps
- Step 1: Get to know your own interests and strengths
How everyday habits and dreams can serve as a guide to self-assessment for young people. A questionnaire for career selectors. - Step 2: Get to know professions and training programmes
An overview of the most important educational programmes, professions of the future, where the shortage of apprentices and skilled workers is greatest and which career paths lead via a university. - Step 3: Compare your own strengths with the requirements of professions and training programmes
Comparing your own skills with the requirements of professions, how people with disabilities can find their way into the desired working environment and what role performance tests play. - Step 4: Get to know interesting professions in a taster apprenticeship
The career choice internship is the reality check: what forms of taster apprenticeships there are and what young people need to know about the taster programme. - Step 5: Review possible professions and training programmes and make a decision
To what extent starting a career is an important step in personal development, why the training company must be as good a fit as the profession - and how young professionals compete for titles. - Step 6: Look for an apprenticeship or register with a school
What is important when looking for an apprenticeship, how to make a good impression at an interview and ten tips for a convincing application portfolio. - Step 7: Prepare for the apprenticeship or school or clarify bridging programmes
Once you have decided what you want to do after compulsory schooling, it is important to find out more and prepare for it - otherwise there are a number of useful bridging programmes.
For Ashley Stutz, the personal impression she gets from taster sessions with career starters is also important in the selection process. «We need open, approachable personalities in our company, as they come into contact with customers very quickly.» Jens Engelhardt also tends to shortlist cheerful, outgoing personalities. «If someone doesn't like socialising with people, they're in the wrong place in a hairdressing salon,» he explains. «For me, school grades play absolutely no role, as long as someone is motivated and doesn't have two left hands.» Ultimately, he and his business are responsible for teaching the technique, as long as the trainees are motivated.
Recruitment as a team decision
Genuine interest and a personality that fits the professional field are the prerequisites; everything else can be honed. «Depending on the position to be filled, I look for different skills,» says Stutz. When filling a KV position, German counts more than in other professional fields. In the crèche, Emmenegger primarily focusses on practical interaction with small children. «Of course, someone should also be motivated to work on their language skills if their German isn't quite up to scratch. What counts much more, however, is whether the applicant has a heart for children.»
School grades don't play a role for me.
Jens Engelhardt, Managing Director
If several young people are still in the running, Stutz, Emmenegger and Engelhardt react in the same way: they listen to their gut feeling. And to their employees. «If someone doesn't fit into the team, even though he or she has the best qualifications on paper, we don't hire them,» says Emmenegger. Engelhardt also pays attention to the voices of the employees. «A good atmosphere is the be-all and end-all of our company, so the teamwork has to be right.» With the ability to work in a team, a personal application and a genuine interest in the profession, an apprenticeship is within reach.
