NetQA Best Practice

Skills analysis is a proven tool in the recognition of foreign professional qualifications. Those unable to submit all the documents required have the opportunity to demonstrate their own knowledge and skills in a practical way to the competent authority.

However the relevant chambers running the procedure often find themselves facing the issue of having to find vocational experts to prepare and carry out the skills analysis. 

In this case a pragmatic solution was found for custom tailor Hbous Albitar who fled Syria some years ago and who has opened her own shop in Neunkirchen. Since no vocational expert with the appropriate training could be found in Saarland for the skills analysis, an expert was quickly brought in from the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts and Trades in Rhineland Palatinate—a project partner chamber. This was arranged via the “Skills Analysis Network” (NetQA) project which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Dr. Constanze Küsel is responsible for NetQA at the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts and Trades and sees this form of collaboration across federal states as a example which can be replicated elsewhere. “Particularly in those occupations in which skills analyses tend to be run relatively infrequently, we mustn't limit ourselves in the search for experts to our own federal state, but should look further afield,” explains Küsel.

The result was that Brigitte Pappe from Koblenz, Chief Master Craftswoman at the Guild, prepared and carried out a skills analysis for Hbous Albitar in the chamber district of Saarbrücken. The cost of the skills analysis was covered by the NetQA qualifications analyses special fund.

The project partner chambers, as well as Dr. Constanze Küsel from the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts and Trades, are contact partners for all competent authorities on issues concerning skills analysis. They each look after a transfer region comprising several federal states. The project partners including contact person and transfer region can be found via the map of Germany on the NetQA project page.

Further information

Recognition procedure with skills analysis

NetQA project – Skills Analysis Network

„Trained in Syria, established in Saarland“ – article in the "Handwerksblatt", magazine of the German crafts sector, issue 6/20, page 3 (PDF)