Fit for recognition counselling
Digitally fit for recognition: BIBB trains advisors online – through its training program and the new Anerkennungs-Campus.
Since 2021, the training team at BIBB Division 3.3 has been providing practical knowledge on professional recognition for advisors and multipliers – with great success: almost 1,000 participants have already been trained this year, people who provide guidance and support skilled workers on their journey. With the new Anerkennungs-Campus, the training programme is now receiving digital reinforcement, making knowledge transfer and exchange available at any time. In the interview, project coordinator Katrin Friske and subject-matter expert Thomas Schmitz report on how the training sessions can strengthen advisors and accelerate recognition procedures. They are supported in the training sessions by project assistant Nina Jaehrling.
What is the main objective of your trainings for recognition and migration advisors?
Katrin Friske: The main objective of our trainings for advisors is to convey up-to-date information in a structured, clear and easily accessible way. Skilled workers seeking to successfully navigate their recognition process often rely on support and counselling. For advisors, on the other hand, it is often a challenge to access the wealth of relevant information on their own. This is exactly where our training sessions come in: we prepare complex content in an easily understandable way and make it available in a practical format so that advisors can immediately apply it in their daily work. In addition, the training sessions are designed to be interactive and offer opportunities for exchange and networking.
What can training participants expect from the new Anerkennungs-Campus, and how does it complement the live training sessions?
Katrin Friske: With the new Anerkennungs-Campus, we are opening up a digital learning space that perfectly complements our live training sessions. Participants will find all the documents, educational videos and additional materials they need to deepen their knowledge independently at any time – naturally, these will be continuously updated and always up to date. An integrated discussion forum will allow advisors to connect with each other, share experiences and learn from one another. In addition, the Campus provides information on important dates and other training opportunities. This way, we are creating a modern learning environment that extends beyond the training day and supports advisory work in a future-oriented way.
Access to the Anerkennungs-Campus
The Anerkennungs-Campus offers various learning spaces and discussion forums. Participants gain access to these “communitys” after successfully completing a training session. Information on available training sessions and current dates can be found on the following page:
Skilled workers benefit from qualified counselling during the recognition process. How do the training sessions help to make the procedures smoother, more understandable and more successful for skilled workers overall?
Katrin Friske: Behind every recognition procedure lies a personal story. Many skilled workers need support during this important phase - guidance that gives them confidence and accompanies them with expertise and understanding. Our training sessions help to ensure that advisors have the necessary knowledge and tools. A key focus is on becoming familiar with the relevant documents and recognizing typical challenges in the process.
Thomas Schmitz: The recognition process is broken down into smaller steps so that advisors can prepare for each stage in a targeted manner. Since recognition procedures are very diverse and highly dependent on individual cases, participants also learn how to use the most important research tools, such as the Profi-Filter on “Anerkennung in Deutschland”, the anabin database of the ZAB and the BQ Portal. This enables them to find the right information for each advisory situation and to support skilled workers individually and effectively.
How do you ensure that advisors from different contexts receive the necessary skills and tools for their daily work?
Thomas Schmitz: Our training sessions are open to anyone who is interested – from advisors working in local migration projects and support structures abroad to volunteers involved in refugee assistance. What unties them is the need for reliable information in their counselling work. That is why we place great emphasis on presenting all relevant sources of information in the training sessions and also demonstrating how to use them. To this end, we often work with case examples, which has enabled us to solve one or two counselling problems almost immediately during the training itself. In 2024, individuals seeking recognition submitted more than 16,000 inquiries via our ‘Anerkennung in Deutschland’ portal. This gives us a good overview of the most common issues and the special considerations that need to be taken into account. But of course, the same applies to us: you never stop learning! With such a complex topic, you constantly encounter new cases. The legal framework and requirements for recognition are also regularly adjusted and are therefore subject to change.
The training program includes both an introductory training and advanced training. Can you explain the difference between the two formats and in which cases each is recommended for advisors?
Katrin Friske: The introductory training course is aimed at interested parties who want to learn about the recognition process and have little experience in this area. It covers the basic procedures and essential knowledge needed to competently advise skilled workers and, if necessary, refer them to case-specific counselling services. We focus less on the legal foundations, which are often very complex, and more on content related to possible counselling practice. The advanced trainings build on this and deal with profession-specific issues, such as the special features of individual reference occupations. These are particularly useful for advisors who have already gained some experience with the recognition process.
Thomas Schmitz: We recommend completing the introductory training before moving on to the advanced course. Both training formats are additionally supported by a dedicated learning space on the new Anerkennungs-Campus, which provides the content for independent study at any time. After the training sessions, advisors can stay up to date via the Anerkennungs-Campus.
How do advisors who have already participated in your training courses respond – are there any comments or success stories that have particularly stuck in your mind?
Thomas Schmitz: You can tell from the training sessions that the participants are very committed and passionate about their job! They are correspondingly eager to learn. It's always great to receive feedback that the training is very useful in practice. The tools we demonstrate live are particularly valuable for the participants. How does the Profi-Filter help to quickly find information about a specific profession? How can one research university degrees in the anabin database? And when are the BQ Portal or “Make it in Germany” helpful? Time and time again, we hear that the exercises and case examples noticeably strengthen counselling skills and make everyday work easier.
Katrin Friske: The Q&A sessions in particular reveal how committed and interested the participants are – and how strong their desire for further support remains. The many positive comments and the gratitude we continually receive mean a lot to us. They show that our training sessions not only convey knowledge, but also provide real impetus. This trust motivates us to explore new approaches – for example, with digital learning spaces on the Anerkennungs-Campus. In this way, we want to further develop our services and continue to provide the best possible support to advisors in the future.
The interview took place in October 2025. Katrin Friske is project coordinator for online trainingss in the BIBB's division ‘Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications’ . Thomas Schmitz is a subject-matter expert for inquiries about recognition in the department ‘Inquiries and International advisory services’. Nina Jaehrling is a project assistant in the departments ‘Inquiries and International advisory services’ and ‘Recognition Monitoring’. Contact for questions: schulungen_anerkennung@bibb.de
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