Short information on the topic of Career Service and the association csnd e. V. can be found on this page under the keywords: International, Germany, initiative, umbrella organisation, standards and activities.

International

In the Anglo-American countries, career centres at universities have a tradition of more than one hundred years. In the USA, for example, the first placement office was found in Harvard as early as 1898. Berkeley followed only a few years later with his own Appointment Office. The Career Services umbrella association of English universities dates back to the early 1960s.

Germany

The first institutions dealing with career service tasks at German universities were set up in the early 1990s. As a rule, this was based on cross-faculty vocational preparation programmes. The name “Career Service” or “Career Center” was chosen on the basis of the models used at the universities in the Anglo-Saxon countries. It is only in recent years that it has become apparent that the Career Service institutions at universities and colleges are becoming increasingly stable and permanently established. The HRK declaration of 2011 has been clarified: Career Services are an important and indispensable part of a university’s own service and consulting offering.

Initiative

At the beginning of 2000, the employees of Career Service facilities in Germany began to form a loose union for the first time. The aim was to improve networking and exploit synergies. These initiatives and working groups were partly supported by institutions such as the scientific secretariat for the study reform of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, or by foundations active in the education sector, such as the Körber Foundation.

Umbrella organisation

All colleagues at the universities were faced with very similar tasks. In this umbrella association, the aim was to develop the foundations for career service offerings that fit the quality profile of universities. Against this background, the Career Service Netzwerk Deutschland e. V. was founded by employees in 2003. (csnd) was founded.

Standards

As a result of a one-year discussion and development process, the Association’s declaration on quality assurance was approved by the General Assembly in 2009. For the first time in the German-speaking countries, it is formulated here which tasks should be performed by Career Service institutions under which institutional and personal conditions. The University Rectors’ Conference 2011 then adopted the tenor of this declaration in its recommendation on Career Services at German universities, thus laying the foundation for high-quality career service work at universities.

Activities

Since its foundation, the association has been continuously organising further training measures, which are offered at various locations in Germany by various speakers. Over the years, the question of a more structured basic training programme, which should regularly cover all areas of career service work, has become more and more frequent. The association therefore set up a working group on this subject in February 2010. The task was to develop a certifiable continuing education program based on the Anglo-Saxon model. This should make it possible for new and experienced Career Service employees to acquire additional career service-specific training within one to two years, which covers all relevant areas of the Career Service work in Germany. The implementation of this concept was very successful. Meanwhile, the second season of the certified basic training is already underway.