The Federal Administration provides training in more than 130 different training occupations - from general administrative jobs to medical and craft jobs. Find out more in our section Our professions.

The Federal Administration offers secure and interesting jobs in all regions of Germany. Each Federal Ministry has many different authorities under its responsibility. The ministries and authorities are distributed across all the Länder in order to guarantee a nationwide infrastructure. This gives you the opportunity to work in or near your own hometown. Under Our vacancies you’ll not only find numerous apprenticeship positions, but also a practical local area search with an interactive map. Try it out straight away!

The school-leaving certificate required depends on the respective training occupation. So it’s best to always look directly under Our vacancies at the specific requirements of the training courses that interest you.

To study in the Federal Administration, you need at least the entrance qualification for a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschulreife). You can find current offers for a degree course directly under Our vacancies. It’s worth a click!

Education in Germany is the responsibility of the Länder. Therefore, the sixteen Länder are also responsible for checking your school-leaving certificate. They answer the question as to whether your school-leaving certificate can be treated as equivalent to a German one. Did you attend school for long enough? How many and which subjects did you take? In the Länder, different offices deal with the recognition. You can find out which office is responsible in your Land on the information portal Recognition in Germany. You can also find more information in our section Applying without a German school leaving certificate.By the way: If you want to go to university and need a university entrance qualification, it is the universities that decide whether your school-leaving certificate is recognised - and not the Länder. Find out more about this on the page Academic Recognition of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Definitely! The public service needs the expertise of people of all nationalities. As a modern administration, what counts for us is motivation, enthusiasm and performance - not nationality. Find out about all the options in our section Applying without a German passport.

Fundamentally, all trainees have to be paid appropriately. This also means that, according to Section 17 of the Vocational Training Act, the remuneration may not fall below certain minimum levels. There is a separate collective bargaining law for trainees in public service - and thus also in the Federal Administration. The collective agreement for trainees in public service (Tarifvertrag für Auszubildende des öffentlichen Dienstes - TVAöD) fundamentally covers all training occupations in the public service and is supplemented by specific regulations. The training pay is regulated, for example, by Section 8 of the collective agreement for trainees in the public sector - special part of the Vocational Training Act - or in the vocational training contract. You can calculate your individual salary online using the calculator of the Federal Administration Office.

The Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences (Hochschule des Bundes für öffentliche Verwaltung, HS Bund) offers various degree programmes for aspiring civil servants in the higher civil service. The students are already civil servants of the Federal Government during their studies (so-called civil servants on probation). On the one hand, you receive monthly pay (prospective civil servant salary (Anwärterbezüge); from March 2020 at least Euro 1511.86 - for an individual calculation, use the calculator of the Federal Administration Office), on the other hand, the degree programme is a service with compulsory attendance. The degree programme is divided into theoretical study periods at the HS Bund and internships at the various federal authorities.

Although most applications today are created and submitted digitally, there are often costs associated with the application process. Some of these costs, such as travel costs to the interview, can be reimbursed by the authority which you are applying to. For some costs, you can also get support from your local employment agency. Here it helps if you arrange a counselling interview for your search for an apprenticeship or university place. You may also be able to deduct application costs in the so-called income-related expenses (Werbungskosten) in your tax declaration.

Education in Germany is the responsibility of the Länder. Therefore, the education system, and especially the school system, is organised by the sixteen Länder themselves. The Federal Government is only responsible for the framework, the rest is taken care of by the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kulturministerien) of the Länder. Their responsible ministers and senators work together in the so-called Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.Although the Länder have agreed on certain standards, there are still differences. For example, the school system is a little different in every Land. You can find out what the situation is like in your Land on the website planet-beruf.de run by the Federal Employment Agency. You’ll find an overview with the contact details of the responsible ministries on the website of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.School attendance is compulsory in Germany. As a general rule, all children first attend primary school (Grundschule). This is followed by transfer to a secondary school. There are three types of school education programme: Lower secondary education (Hauptschulbildungsgang), secondary modern education (Realschulbildungsgang) and grammar school education (gymnasialer Bildungsgang).These education programmes are organised in different types of schools in the Länder. For example, there are three education programmes at comprehensive schools (Gesamtschulen), and one each at secondary modern schools (Realschulen) and grammar schools (Gymnasien). Children and young people with special educational needs that cannot be met through inclusion at main-stream schools receive special support at special needs schools (Förderschulen).
You can find more information on the website of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. The website also offers information on second chance education (zweiter Bildungsweg) after the end of actual compulsory schooling.