How to find your ideal free to you course
Are you considering taking a government-funded course, but don’t know where to start? It can be overwhelming when looking at the Kursnet and seeing thousands of course options. From the endless number of professions to choose from, along with deciding on the length of the course, whether it should be online or in person and even the language of instruction, it can be difficult to know which course is ideal for you. This can be more difficult if you are also a newcomer to Germany, as there is the additional aspect of finding a course where you can improve your German. Continue reading to learn how you can help narrow down your options to find the best course for you to further your education.
What type of course should I choose?
The first thing you want to think about is the topic of your course. Here it is helpful to reflect on your previous experiences. Maybe you have trained in your home country as an architect but are looking for a career change to finance. Or maybe you want to upskill in order to qualify for a higher paying job. For example, maybe you are a talented graphic designer, but now want to upskill in the area of UX/UI Engineering to become more marketable. Or you may be considering a complete career change and want to break into the lucrative field of Tech, in which case you could take an online tech bootcamp. There are many tech bootcamps you can take from web development to backend programming.
No matter if you want to upskill or change your career, it is always valuable to think about your strengths and how you could apply them to a future career. For example if you excel at talking to people, you could think about a course that combines sales and HR to further improve your people skills. When you think about your strengths you may be surprised as to what potential careers they could translate to. Choosing a course based on your experiences and strengths is important not only to ensure that you will be satisfied with your new career, but also it’s important that there is a connection between your course and your past experiences.
What else should you consider?
Now that you know your ideal course topic, it’s time to consider the next factors. First you want to think about your language skills. If your German is already at a B2 or C1 level, then you could choose a course that is taught in German. On the other hand, if you are not yet conversational in German you could choose a course in English. If you are looking to learn German, then you may want to consider choosing a professional training course that includes German language instruction. These courses often include professional training in English and then additional language courses. This means that once your course is completed you not only will be trained in a new field but you often will have a level of German that makes you highly competitive in the German job market. Furthermore, if you are new to Germany and are feeling a bit lost regarding understanding the culture, there are even courses that include intercultural integration as part of the programme.
The next thing to take into consideration is the length of the course. Course length can range anywhere from around 6 to 12 weeks all the way to 12 months. While it may seem ideal to take a shorter course so that you can start working sooner, you should evaluate what you would like to accomplish during your course and in what time frame that would be possible. For example, if you are thinking about a course that includes German, in order to complete enough German instruction to reach the next level along with the professional training, that would likely require a 6 to 12 month course. If you are only looking to upskill, then one of the shorter educational programmes could be enough for you.
How will my course be paid for?
Now that you know what type of course you would like to take along with your requirements, you may be asking how do I pay for this now? The great thing is that these courses are government-funded, made possible by the Agentur für Arbeit / Jobcenter. If you are living in Germany, unemployed or soon to be unemployed and registered or in the process of registering with the Agentur für Arbeit / Jobcenter then you may be eligible! If you meet these requirements then you may be eligible to obtain an educational voucher known as the Bildungsgutschein. This voucher allows you to take these courses all free to you. You can even take Bildungsgutschein courses in English.
Where do I find all the possible courses?
All courses that can be taken with a Bildungsgutschein are available on the Kursnet from the Agentur für Arbeit. Here you can filter the courses based on all of your requirements you have decided upon to find the right course for you. However, when you are looking through you may be overwhelmed with the thousands of options. That is where Match Talent can help! With our Course Counselling, we can go over everything you are looking for in a course and help you find the course that will launch your career in Germany. Read more about our Course Counselling service here and fill out the form to get in touch with the Match Talent Course Counselling team.