A good application is characterized by the fact that you convincingly demonstrate that you really want this position and are motivated to work in this field. And that you have the skills required for this position.
In order to know what you want, you need to take a close look at your own wishes, goals, values and dreams, as well as knowing which topics excite you and which activities you lose track of time doing that make you happy and satisfy you. That's why every application phase begins with career orientation.
Goals and personal profile
Before you start looking for jobs, the first step is to be clear about your goals, wishes and personal profile. This is not just about technical knowledge and performance records, but also about your personality, interests, experience and commitment.
You can ask yourself the following questions:
- Where do I stand?
- Where do I want to go?
- When was the last time I was really motivated and committed?
- What skills do I have - professionally and in general?
- What makes me unique?
- ...
The right area of work/professional field
- Which fields of work, employers and sectors are suitable for you?
- What opportunities do I have with my degree?
- Where can I use my specialist skills?
- Where can I use my personal strengths?
- What is the current situation on the job market? Which jobs are currently being advertised?
- Which tasks within a position do I find really interesting?
- How important are earnings or promotion opportunities to me?
- What else is important to me?
Career entry or Master's degree?
Starting a career with a Bachelor's degree can be advantageous under certain circumstances - for example, to get your bearings and gain practical experience - and a Master's degree is not absolutely necessary to be successful on the job market. However, the starting salary is usually higher with a Master's degree and climbing the career ladder can be easier as the qualification is higher. If you are aiming for an academic career, a Master's degree is essential.
You can also find out more on our information page Different career paths - economy, science, founding a company
TIP: Coaching for career orientation
If you are unable to answer the questions on your own, the Career Service offers individual support for career orientation, in creating your personal skills profile and in clarifying your professional motivation. The aim here is to identify your own strengths, interests and the central theme of your personal development in order to define an individual career goal.
In order to be able to devote ourselves entirely to your individual questions, we would like to ask you for the following:
- Make an appointment by phone or e-mail.
- Let us know your field of study and your semester/year of graduation.
- Send us your current CV and any other application documents (cover letter, job advertisement, etc.) at least one day before the interview.
Job offers
- The official online job exchange of the University of Stuttgart is currently Stellenwerk.
- Jobs in the field of natural sciences and engineering, especially from small and medium-sized companies, can be found in the PraktikumsInfoBörse
- Internships specifically for students of the humanities and social sciences can be found at Studium-Praktikum-Beruf.
Company contact fairs at the University of Stuttgart
- Every year in spring, the student initiative bonding organizes the largest company contact fair on the Vaihingen campus of the University of Stuttgart.
- The SimTech Cluster of Excellence regularly organizes the Firmenkontaktmesse SimTech together with the SimTech specialist group and the Society of Simulation Technology.
- The Informatik-Kontaktmesse takes place twice a year.
- The Aerospace Engineering Student Council of the University of Stuttgart organizes the annual StepIN.
An important prerequisite for a successful application is a thorough analysis of the job advertisement.
- professional knowledge
- field of study
- main topics
- special software or programming knowledge
- additional qualifications
- language skills
- MS Office skills
- driver's licence
- rhetoric courses
- social competences and personal skills
- skills for coping with professional tasks
- skills for dealing with superiors, colleagues, customers, etc.
There are also mandatory criteria (must-have requirements) and others that are desirable. These optional criteria can be recognized by formulations such as: "would be ideal", "advantageous", "desirable", "ideally you have"...
Look at the skills requirements in the job advertisement and evaluate them according to fit: What do you like doing (+), what don't you like doing (-) and what can you do (+), what are you unable to do but would you like to learn (0), what are you unable to do and don't want to learn (-).
If the job profile suits you, apply specifically for this position. The aspect of motivation for precisely this job is as important as the fit of your skills profile.
TIP: Documentation of applications
To keep an overview of the application process, it makes sense to create an "Applications" folder and then another one for each individual application. This is where you save the advertisement, the application documents as well as information that you have collected and the details that you have entered in an online tool. This way you can keep an eye on the entire application process, have all the information you need - e.g. for the interview - and keep an overview!
Application documents provide the first impression for the employer, who does not know you beforehand and can only extract all the information from your application. As a general rule
- consistent layout
- one font in different sizes
- uniform line spacing
- justified or left-aligned
- structured, neat and error-free
- the documents must be adapted to each job advertisement
Cover letter
The cover letter is the first page of the application and contains a brief assessment of your personal profile and presents you as a suitable candidate by describing how you have acquired or mastered the knowledge and skills required in the advertisement and answers the question of why you are the right person for this particular job - short answer: "I want to and I can!", i.e. I am motivated and I meet the requirements. The cover letter should be exactly one page long. The actual text comprises approx. 20 lines. An individual cover letter must be written for each position. Pay attention to the structure of the text and check whether you have covered all the profile requirements of the job advertisement. Use only positive wording.
The CV
Together with the cover letter, the CV in tabular form is the most important document in the application. The CV usually comprises 2 pages, maximum 3 pages for experienced professionals. A good structure is the most important thing here. The reader should quickly recognize what knowledge and experience you have. The first block is always your personal details. This is followed by the most important suitability for the position - in the case of an internship semester, a thesis or career entry, this is always your studies! The most recent information is always listed first. The CV must also be adapted for each job advertisement.
Contact
Christine Kispert
Head of Career Service
Melanie Minderjahn
Career Service - Inner Development, Public Relations