Skilled specialists

One of them is Sina-Marie Dippel. Up until 2020, the now 27-year-old student was on a bioinformatics and genome research degree ­pro­gramme at Bielefeld University – an interesting but highly chal­lenging course of study. “I really struggled with two modules and failed the exams”, she recalls. Even so, she didn’t really want to give up on her course. But after several semesters, she also found that money was ­getting tight, something encountered by many students in that kind of situation. She realised it didn’t make much sense to continue studying. But then what? “I thought I’d have no chance on the job market as a uni drop-out”, says Sina-Marie Dippel. Then her sister gave her the ‘Changing course instead of dropping out’ flyer. “Straight away, I made a personal appointment in Hannover. As early as the first meeting, I realised that my prospects weren’t so bad after all. That was a great ­relief and made me feel much better”. She submitted applications to ­several companies to start training as an industrial clerk and was ­taken on by micronex, an SME company based in Eldagsen, south of ­Hannover. She completed her training successfully in 2022. Since then, she has been working as a permanent member of staff in the HR department and has already recruited another young uni drop-out as a trainee at micronex through the same programm.

micronex itself is, meanwhile, part of the extensive contact network for “Changing course instead of dropping out” – more than 320 com­panies actively involved in vocational training use the network to ­offer more than 1,300 free training and dual degree places in the Region Hannover and adjoining districts. Other partners in the project include several universities, the Employment Agency, the Job Centre and the Chambers, as well as companies from all participating regions and the economic development agencies in the neighbouring districts of Hildesheim, Nienburg and Schaumburg. Being involved in the network is definitely worthwhile, confirms CEO Torsten Bethke. Uni drop-outs offer many characteristics that fit in well with the training offered by micronex: “People who have started a degree course are usually highly motivated and willing to take the initiative. Upon dropping out of uni, they often have a motivated, positive mindset when they decide to start vocational training. They have also had a bit more life experience. This all fits in well with the attractive approach taken in our company: our trainees are quickly allowed to work on their own and are put in charge of large, interesting projects”, he says. It’s a “win-win situation” which, when it goes well, ensures that young talents are ­given vocational training with a good chance of being offered permanent ­employment, as was the case with Sina-Marie Dippel.

During the seven years of the model project, around 630 consulting sessions were held with doubting students who received support for about three months. In June 2022, the project was perpetuated as the “University and Work Coordination Office ” in the economic development and employment promotion agency of the Region Hannover. A worthwhile move, as indicated by the statistics: the Region Hannover is increasingly seen as a nationwide point of contact. More than half of those seeking help come from other parts of Germany, rather than the Region Hannover itself. Successful consulting and mediation therefore also offers the chance of bringing new skilled specialists to companies in the region and keeping them here.