After the final apprenticeship examination, immediately start further training? What sounds like never-ending stress for some is an interesting option for others. The decisive factor is primarily your own motivation – as well as your financial situation.
Done! The final apprenticeship examination has been passed and you can finally devote yourself to something other than cramming. Meeting up with friends after work, going to the gym – or going back to school after all? Should you start training right after graduation??
Option 1: Continue working
Some apprenticeship graduates are kept on by the training company. This is not a matter of course, and there is no legal obligation to do so. The apprenticeship relationship actually ends with the completion of the examinations, but the graduates are often offered a temporary position to bridge the gap until the next step in their career. If you talk to your superiors and HR in good time, you stand a good chance of benefiting from it. Apprenticeship graduates who would like to work in another company should apply in good time – even if the exam result is still pending.
Option 2: Stay abroad
A good combination of learning and free time is a stay abroad. Learning a language fluently, perhaps even with a language diploma, and at the same time benefiting from a foreign city and a different culture is a good thing. Those who focus on their career specifically choose the language that will help them do so the most. A higher language diploma looks good on the CV and so does the experience gained.
As a rule, an employer has recouped the invested costs two or three years after the completion of further training.
Option 3: Continuing education
After completing your apprenticeship, it's a good idea to start a continuing education program, especially for those who are not tired of school. For those who like to learn and are fully motivated, there are various options open to them. In a second apprenticeship, following a Federal Vocational Certificate (FVC), a two- or three-year additional training course can be completed in order to obtain a Federal Certificate of Proficiency (FVC). If you want to deepen your knowledge and specialize, there are numerous higher vocational training courses open to you. This includes, for example, the higher technical colleges (HF). Attention: Work experience is often required for admission to exams, so inform yourself beforehand.
The vocational baccalaureate is a supplementary general education that takes place during or after the federal certificate of proficiency. It enables the employee to study at a university of applied sciences or – via the so-called Passerelle – at a university. The Passerelle is a supplementary examination to the vocational baccalaureate. Whoever passes them can attend all courses of study at the universities. Preparation for the supplementary exam can be self-taught or in preparatory courses that last two semesters. There are two examinations per year in each language region.
The dear money
Continuing education is a benefit, of course. But it also means less time off and less pay. Anyone who decides to take a continuing education course should prepare a detailed budget in advance. On budget counseling.Various templates are available for this purpose.
If you are considering part-time further education, you can ask your employer whether he or she will contribute financially to it. Employees and employers often share the cost of the course and the time required. Employers generally have a great interest in ensuring that their employees are professionally up to date. Training that is directly related to the job has a good chance of receiving financial support. Or it enables the employee to take over a new area in the company. It is worthwhile to take a look at the company's mission statement before talking to the boss.
Often the employee promotion is noted in it and provides a good argument for cost sharing. In practice, it is usually agreed in writing how long the employee must remain with the company after passing the exam. Respectively, to what extent he has to reimburse the further education costs if he leaves the company before the end of the deadline. As a rule, an employer has recouped the invested costs two or three years after completion of the continuing education course. There are also companies that offer their employees loans for training. These are often available at attractive interest rates. This option should certainly be considered.