Courage
to address the gap

Dr. Martin Noack from the Bertelsmann foundation has dealt with a similar issue to Florian Kuhn from an academic perspective. He and his team analyzed job opportunities for workers with partial qualifications based on job advertisements. “They generally have five or six components out of a complete professional profile that can be reviewed and learned individually,” Noack explains. “Overall, they reflect all of the knowledge and skills needed for the job.” The analysis showed that in almost two thirds of job ads for specialists, employers ask for multiple partial qualifications, but not for a complete professional profile. They expect assistants to have more skills than one would expect for an “untrained” position, in contrast. This underscores the fact that a completed training program is not needed for many jobs. This represents an opportunity for job seekers who only have some of the qualifications for a certain profession. At the same time, employers can fill open positions more quickly if they concentrate on the skills actually needed for a certain job. They can have these employees complete additional partial qualifications if needed later on while they work, in order to finish a recognized professional degree. Employees will gain highly motivated and loyal workers and specialists for the company.  Dr. Martin Noack talks about how partial qualifications work, and how they can benefit both sides.