FAQs

This page contains answers to questions frequently asked about the Professional Skills Certificate. If you have a question that is not answered below, do not hesitate to get in touch: luisa.kimmel@uni-wuerzburg.de, annette.retsch@uni-wuerzburg.de  or  career@uni-wuerzburg.de.

We want our students to leave us well-prepared for the global job market of tomorrow. The job market is changing ever more rapidly, which means that our students already have to start preparing for jobs/work tasks that don’t exist yet. It is becoming more and more difficult to predict what skills graduates will need in order to find a job and succeed in the workplace. One thing is certain, however: Transferable skills will be particularly important. An ability to create, a capacity for critical thinking, adaptability, self-initiative and participation-oriented goal setting - these are essential skills that the job market 4.0 will be looking for. To be able to deal with conflicts within society, we need to have ‘the ability to develop new and previously unknown approaches, forge new paths and find new ways to relate what was previously unrelated’ (own translation).[1]

The Professional Skills Certificate prepares students for the world of work by equipping them with exactly these skills.

The Professional Skills Certificate is open to all JMU students in any major and at any stage of their degrees as well as to recent graduates (for up to one year after they graduate).

You don’t have to sign up. Just complete the following steps:

1. Attend a potential analysis session and the courses of your choice and record them on your CC Collection Card.

2. Email your completed and signed CC Collection Card to career@uni-wuerzburg.de.

The certificate is usually issued in German. If you want your certificate to be issued in English, please let us know.

No, you won’t. You can take the courses over several semesters. Just make sure you don’t forget to record them (including the dates) on your CC Collection Card.

You can start taking the courses at any time. The Career Centre even offers some of the relevant courses during semester break.

The main purpose of the Career Credits Collection Card (CC Collection Card) is to help you plan your progression through the certificate and keep track of the courses you have taken. Your teachers won’t have to sign or complete anything on your CC Collection Card.

When you have found a course that you want to take, just register for it on the WueStudy portal as usual. Your teacher will then monitor and record your attendance of the session(s). Nevertheless, you should make sure you also keep your own record of the courses you have taken and complete your collection card carefully. This is particularly important if you are taking the courses for the certificate over several semesters.

Once you have attended the potential analysis session, taken your seven courses and completed your CC Collection Card, email the signed card to career@uni-wuerzburg.de. We will then compare it against the attendance sheets kept by your teachers.

All courses offered by us can be counted towards the certificate. You will have to attend 4 seminars/workshops that are each at least 4 hours long and 3 presentations that are each at least 90 minutes long and will have to cover all of the 7 skill areas. If, for example, you attend a presentation that is only 60 minutes long, you will have to attend an additional presentation in the same skill area.

Yes, courses taken no more than one year prior to the semester in which the certificate was first offered (2022/23 winter semester) can be counted.

The skills profile, which you will prepare during the potential analysis session, records the skills that you currently have. It shows the knowledge, skills and abilities you have already acquired in formal or informal contexts. Providing a systematic overview of your own potential, your skills profile will give you an idea of which transferable skills you already have and which skills you can work on in order to further increase your chances of getting the job you want.

For many years now, we have carried out potential analyses in several formats and in the context of a range of courses: This semester, the following courses will include a potential analysis session and the preparation of a skills profile:

We strongly recommend courses from the Virtual Exchange programme as they will equip you with a wide range of skills that will future-proof you. The range of topics is expanding continuously. We have a regular dialogue with Soliya, the organisation behind the Virtual Exchange programme, and will let you know whenever a new course is added to the programme - just check the WueStudy portal or our social media channels. Employers will expect that you feel at home with the English language and are able to talk about social and political issues confidently. Participating in our Virtual Exchange courses is a great way to practise your language and discussion skills and to enhance your digital and interpersonal skills in an international setting. And these courses also include a potential analysis session. The skills profile prepared in that session can also be used for your Professional Skills Certificate. Always remember: You don’t have to speak ‘perfect’ English. Your language skills will improve automatically as you progress through the course.

We offer at least two Virtual Exchange courses each semester. However, if none of the courses fits your timetable, you can take a Virtual Exchange course in a later semester or take another course in the Intercultural Skills area. These can be found on the WueStudy portal or in our booklet, where they are marked with a golden dot .

Remember that you won’t have to take all courses for the certificate in one semester. You can take the Virtual Exchange course whenever it works best for you; new topics are added to the programme on an ongoing basis.

If a course fits into several skill areas, you are free to decide for which one you want to use it. Just record it on your CC Collection Card in the area of your choice. Don’t forget, however, that you will have to cover all of the 7 skill areas to get the certificate.

No, you won’t. But we recommend that you take a course that includes a potential analysis session before you start collecting the skill areas as those sessions will provide an introduction to the skill areas.

Once you have attended a potential analysis session and 7 courses (1 in each of the skill areas) and have recorded them on your CC Collection Card, email your signed collection card to the Career Centre at career@uni-wuerzburg.de.

As soon as we have reviewed your documents, we will email you to let you know that your certificate is ready for collection.