Career Service Offers for Students

In order to get to know yourself better, find out what you want and understand your own skills, interests, etc., it is useful and important to reflect on yourself.

You will find questionnaires and reflection aids in our ILIAS course (currently under construction) on topics such as

• Goals and personal profile
  
  • Assessment of current situation, skills analysis
  • Personality traits
  • Values, interests and talents, strengths and weaknesses
  • Working conditions (working hours, type of contract, place of work, willingness to travel, etc.)

You also have the option of taking advantage of our coaching and counselling services.

What exactly does a development engineer, key account manager or collection curator do?

• The best way to gain practical insights is through relevant internships, part-time jobs and voluntary work (see Job Search and Employer Contacts).
• You can make contacts at career events such as the role model event ‘Job Talk’ and at company contact fairs. 
• Sources of information include the Alumni Talk, where alumni report on their practical experience and highlight areas in which students with the same degree could work. Here you can gain insights into various fields of activity, career paths and valuable tips for starting your career.

On the individual study programme pages, click on ‘Prospects Master's & Job’ for tips on the areas in which you could work.

There are different career paths and a range of support services available

• Business

Would you like to work in a company, an institution or in the public sector? All students can find support at the Career Service, and students of humanities and social sciences can find support at Studium-Praktikum & Beruf

• Academic career

The Graduate Academy offers information and guidance counselling to those interested in pursuing a PhD, as well as interdisciplinary counselling on the possibilities of pursuing a PhD at the University of Stuttgart to doctoral students and anyone planning to pursue a PhD.

An overview of the requirements and legal basis for pursuing a PhD at the University of Stuttgart, as well as information on current funding and graduate programmes, can be found on the University of Stuttgart's information page. 

• Founding a company

Anyone who would like to start their own business with an idea or research results and found a start-up will find an overview of the numerous teaching and training opportunities, advisory services and information in the entrepreneurship section of TRACES – from degree programmes to start-up programmes, from advisory appointments to the provision of workplaces and office space.

In your career, it is not only specialist knowledge that is relevant. Additional qualifications such as language skills, methodological skills and social and personal skills are also important.

You can find opportunities for students to expand their skill set at the University of Stuttgart here, among other places:

• Interdisciplinary key qualifications (FüSQ)
• Design Factory Stuttgart in ARENA 2036, a platform for design thinking, open innovation, various learning formats and other methods:
• Interdisciplinary and partly cross-disciplinary continuing education courses offered by Studium Generale at the University of Stuttgart
• Language Centre: here you will find German and English courses in particular.

First of all, you are not alone: the dropout rate for bachelor's degree programmes in Germany was 28% in the summer semester of 2020 (see here).

There are many reasons for having doubts about your studies. Perhaps the subject is not really your thing after all, or you imagined your studies would be different? Or perhaps you feel overwhelmed, e.g. by the performance requirements or the organisation of your studies, due to stress from studying and exams, personal circumstances, motivation or financial difficulties? The Central Student Advisory Service (ZSB) is the first point of contact here. The service is free of charge and all discussions are confidential.

You have decided to end your current studies without graduating.

• Perhaps you want to continue studying, but change your subject or university. Please feel free to contact the Central Student Advisory Service (ZSB) or the Stuttgart Employment Agency.
• Alternatives to studying: Students who drop out of university are also in high demand at many training companies. If you are considering doing an apprenticeship, please contact the career counselling service of the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Stuttgart Employment Agency or the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Crafts.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research offers a good overview of options and opportunities for those who have dropped out of university on its website. The Career Service also provides confidential, impartial, open-ended and independent advice.

Do you need psychological support? The psychotherapeutic counselling centre of the University of Stuttgart Student Services Association offers free, professional psychological counselling for students.

• The university's official online job board is currently Stellenwerk. Here you will find mainly student assistant positions and other jobs at the university.
• Female students can find internships in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, particularly at small and medium-sized companies, on the PraktikumsInfoBörse.
• Internships specifically for students of humanities and social sciences can be found at Studium-Praktikum-Beruf.

• Every spring, the student initiative bonding organises the largest company contact fair on the Vaihingen campus of the University of Stuttgart.
• The SimTech Cluster of Excellence regularly organises the SimTech company contact fair in collaboration with the SimTech specialist group and the Society of Simulation Technology.
• The computer science contact fair takes place twice a year.
• The aerospace engineering student council at the University of Stuttgart organises the annual StepIN.

The Career Service, in collaboration with employers, offers events where you can learn about career orientation, career paths and job applications in a variety of ways.

• Our workshops and lectures will help you prepare perfectly for your job application and interviews.
• During personal application document reviews with HR managers and subject representatives from companies, you will receive individual tips and tricks for your application documents first-hand.
• Roadshows and company contact stands at individual faculties
• Career Day c³ at individual faculties
• Role model events in collaboration with specialist groups
• Excursions in collaboration with specialist groups or institutes

These and other Career Service events can also be found in the student events calendar.

The Deutschlandstipendium is a merit-based scholarship that not only takes good grades into account, but also social engagement and special personal achievements.

Scholarship holders receive €300 per month, half of which comes from private sponsors and half from the federal government. Eligibility is independent of origin and income (and can be received in addition to BAföG benefits). In addition to financial support, some companies offer non-material benefits such as internships, thesis projects, company tours, working student positions, mentoring programmes, etc.

The aim is to know, find and get the right job.

Knowing your own profile is the basis of a good application and a prerequisite for applying for the right jobs. For companies, matching the job profile and personal profile is the criterion for hiring. A good application shows that your profile is a perfect fit for the job.

• So the first step is to know your own profile.
• The second step is to
  • read job advertisements correctly
  • in order to match the job profile with your personal profile. This comparison is called job matching and is a prerequisite for you to apply for the right job and for employers to find the right staff.
• Only in step three do you write your application documents. Start with a two-page CV and make sure you use the keywords from the job advertisement. The cover letter is half to two-thirds of a page long and answers the question of why you are the right person for this particular job.

You can find help on these topics in our ILIAS course (currently under construction), including

• Goals and personal profile
• Finding jobs
• Reading job advertisements correctly and recognising job profiles
• Application knowledge
  • Application documents
  • Job interview
  • Salary
  • Assessment centre

Some job offers are simply too good to be true. Some companies even contact you directly by email because they apparently cannot find anyone for their well-paid positions. There are many reasons behind such fake job advertisements. These include, for example, the following:

• Collecting and reselling personal data
• Criminal intentions (e.g. obtaining account details)
• Collecting CVs for future vacancies

Signs that can help you recognise fake job advertisements:

• Vague job description and job requirements
• Unrealistic pay
• Spelling and grammar mistakes
• Immediate interview possible
• Requests for private data that is not usually requested (account details, etc.)
• No company address or telephone number
• http://www... instead of https://www...

If in doubt: research the company and look for the job advertisement on the careers page or on the usual job portals.

For a check of your application documents, please contact the Employment Agency's advisory service. Ms Löffler and Mr Batarilo are advisors for academic professions. They will be happy to check your documents (CV, cover letter and relevant job advertisement) and give you tips on how to apply for jobs in Germany today. Please use the following email address to make an appointment: Stuttgart.154-Berufsberatung@arbeitsagentur.de

For international students, the IZ offers 2 consultation slots per week as part of a project. Further information will follow soon.

The Career Service offers individual support for career orientation, creating your personal skills profile and clarifying your career motivation. The aim here is to identify your own strengths, interests and the common thread running through your personal development in order to define an individual career goal.

Christine Kispert will be happy to provide you with individual and personalised support in the following areas:

• Assistance in finding suitable opportunities for internships, theses and entry-level positions, as well as questions about job matching
• Further questions about applications, interviews and similar topics

In order to be able to devote our full attention to your individual questions, we kindly ask you to do the following: Please book an appointment and send an email with the following information to careerservice@traces.uni-stuttgart.de at least two days before the appointment:

• What would you like to discuss during the appointment?
• Your field of study and your semester/graduation year
• Your CV, if you have one

You can find initial guidance in the Career Orientation and Competence Analysis section

The Career Services counselling service is available to students and graduates for up to one year after graduation and is free of charge.

The Central Student Advisory Service at the University of Stuttgart offers a service called ‘Studium-Praktikum-Beruf’ (Study-Internship-Career) to support students of humanities and social sciences with questions about internships and career orientation. Your contact person is Simon Demel: spb@uni-stuttgart.de

The psychotherapeutic counselling centre of the Student Services Association at the University of Stuttgart offers free, professional psychological counselling for students.

The University of Stuttgart supports international students from their first day until they successfully enter the workforce. All support services can be found here.

Language courses for German and English are offered by the Language Centre.

Femtec.Network is a collaboration between leading technical universities and renowned companies with Femtec.Hochschulkarrierezentrum für Frauen Berlin GmbH (Femtec University Career Centre for Women Berlin). In addition to attracting young women to study engineering and natural sciences, Femtec.Network aims to promote female students with high performance and leadership potential and to test innovative forms of cooperation between universities and industry.

To achieve these goals, a career-building program is offered to outstanding female students in selected natural science and engineering courses, giving them the opportunity to set the right course for their career entry and advancement at an early stage.

• The Disability Officer advises students and prospective students with disabilities or chronic illnesses on all matters from accessibility to study organisation.
• Them Inforation and Advice Centre for Studying and Disability (IBS) is the nationwide centre of excellence on the subject of ‘studying and disability’.
• Help on the subject of studying with disabilities and chronic illnesses can be found on the website of the German Student Services Organisation
• Students and graduates can get support in starting their careers with the myAbility Talent® program, which includes an accessible job portal.

The GRADUS Graduate Academy is the University of Stuttgart's central institution for supporting young academics and offers a wide range of qualification, information, counselling and mentoring services.

An overview of the requirements and legal basis for a PhD at the University of Stuttgart, as well as information on current funding and graduate programmes, can be found here.

If you are interested in starting a business, whether you already have an initial idea or are still unsure, you can book an appointment for an initial consultation here. The consultation is free of charge and, of course, strictly confidential.

Alternatively, you are welcome to attend our open group consultation hour as part of the ‘Startup Coffee Series’ without booking in advance. This takes place every Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Café Freiraum on campus Vaihingen. Here you have the opportunity to ask questions and receive support from founders/start-up coaches.

Further information on start-ups at the University of Stuttgart can also be found here.