“International students need early access to information about how to prepare for work in Germany”

Ms. Schueller, career services are widespread at German universities, but they are primarily aimed at German students. What specific needs would career services have to meet in order to be able to support international students in their transition to the German job market?

Research indicates that international students face different challenges than their German counterparts, necessitating specialized career services that cater to their needs. International students need early access to information about how to prepare for work in Germany, including transparent insight into potential linguistic and cultural barriers. Moreover, international students require a certain degree of individualized support, which requires a decent amount of staff time. To address these challenges and adequately support international students, career services need to be offered in English at the very least, and cover five main elements of support: labor market, networking, applications, skills and work experience, and culture. These five elements guide students through the process of getting to know the labor market in Germany generally, and in their field specifically, the importance of networking for the job search and career progression, how applications and interviews work, the role of practical experience and skills during studies, and the centrality of language and culture both in and outside of the workplace. As such, when these five elements are considered when developing ICS programming, a progressive development cycle offers structure and clarity to the job search process.

You have been working on this topic for some time and therefore have a good overview of the current situation in Germany: How widespread are International Career Services at German universities so far? And what concepts can be distinguished here?

While it is difficult to accurately measure the extent to which German universities offer international career services, primarily due to definitional differences and dynamic openings and closings of ICS, my research revealed that roughly 20% of German universities have some form of ICS. In using “some form” here, it is critical to point out that ICS differ greatly from each other depending on the institution and its student demographic. In particular, the goals of the ICS may range from temporary, as a means to integrate refugees, to permanent, as a means to ensure the support of a steady influx of international students each year. After reviewing the different models, a conceptual framework for ICS emerged that includes joint and independent structures, defined by where the ICS is supported and housed within the institution on the one hand, and temporary and permanent funding, defined by the planned longevity of the ICS on the other hand.

Finally, a practical question: In your view, what are the key challenges in setting up International Career Services? And: In your perspective, which universities need an ICS at some point, and which ones perhaps don’t?

In order to support, empower, and facilitate successful education-to-work transitions for international students, career services at German universities need first and foremost institution-wide support. This requires commitment from university leadership to center career services as a key service structure within the university, both strategically and financially. In addition, the connection between curriculum and careers should be advanced strategically by university leaders, who can merge and negotiate the interests of faculty, administrators, and local labor market actors. It takes a village to prepare international students for careers, and only with robust institutional support can career services departments then train and hire staff that can concentrate on international students specifically. Most career service professionals see the unique needs of international students in their day-to-day work, and more needs to be done to combat the chronic under-staffing of career services at German universities. Both international and German students would benefit from centering career services within German higher education institutions.

However, it is critical to note that not every university needs an ICS. The higher education landscape in Germany is as diverse as its student population, and some universities attract more international students than others. And, even within universities that attract a lot of international students, some have high percentages of German-speaking international students who do not necessarliy need entirely segregated ICS. In those cases, culturally-relevant and inclusive adaptations could be made to German-language career programming to ensure it also addresses the needs of international students. In general though, there are two main types of universities that often need ICS. First, the institutions with continuously high numbers of international students, either across the university or in specific programs, should consider some form of ICS to meet student needs. Second, institutions that experience acute increases in international student enrollment, in particular refugee enrollment, may need to erect ICS structures for a limited time period to ensure students are getting the support they need. Finally, while some universities do not enroll many or any international students and therefore would naturally not need an ICS, other institutions find themselves deciding between time-bound solutions and permanent structures. In those cases, institutions should look to the immediate region or state to see if collaboration among several institutions is a viable option. In bringing together multiple institutions, a regional ICS would distribute staff workload, institutional responsibility, and student access to ICS activities.