Discovering Skills - The Skills which Graduates of German Studies Programs Need to Possess, Izhewsk/Russian Federation

Possible opportunities and perspectives for the time after graduation was the overarching topic of a project day held in Izhevsk for students in German Studies programs. The idea was to not only provide them with information about future fields of work and assist them in establishing contacts at potential employers on their own initiative, but also to focus on developing the students’ skills in order to improve their professional prospects.
In preparation, the students thoroughly addressed the topic of key skills and also created a PowerPoint presentation and a “skills poster,” which they then presented on the day of the event.
In the morning, speakers and workshop leaders who were invited from Moscow, Perm, and Izhevsk offered information about opportunities in the regional job market. For example, a representative of the Chamber of Commerce Abroad in Moscow spoke on the subject of “What German Companies Demand from Russian College Graduates.” A lecture on the Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg’s “Perm Model” provided information about the role that volunteer work can play in developing professional skills, and information was presented regarding the Izhevsk-Berlin volunteer exchange program offered by the German-Russian Exchange Association.
In the afternoon, the students had the opportunity to develop individual skills in different workshops. The topics covered in these workshops ranged from presentation techniques to communication strategies, and there was also a workshop available that allowed participants to assess their own skills.

The feedback from students was extremely positive, and there have already been requests for subsequent events. The event enabled students to truly understand the activities carried out by the Bologna working group at the institute, and also reaffirmed the group’s duty to establish elements of the Bologna Process at the institute such as professional qualification.