Labour market information for spouses
Employment is one of the ways to facilitate the integration of foreign academics’ family members. This service will help the target group to acquire basic information about the labour market quickly. As a result, they will maintain continuity in their professional activity and improve their professional portfolio. This may also increase the financial stability and comfort of the researcher's spouses during the mobility.
Goals
Improved access to information
Basic information
| Categories | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development |
|---|---|
| Mobility stages | During mobility phase |
| Delivery schedule | Continuous |
| Importance | Nice to have |
| Scale of organizational change |  |
| Target groups | Internationals spouses/family members |
|---|
Practice setup
Well-targeted description of the key information about national and local labour market can be published on the HEI’s webpage dedicated to international staff guidance. The content of the webpage/information may include:
- Conditions of legal work in the country
- Introduction to the local job market
- Links to job platforms
- Practical information on job applications together with useful links (cv writing, interview skills, soft skills, language courses)
- Possibilities offered by the Employment office, its contact details, links to the English version of the website
- Examples of recruitment agencies,
- Compilation of job offers in various sectors in the area suitable for internationals
- List of leading international companies in the city/region
- Information on international organizations active in the city/region
- Information on local language courses
- Information about career/labour market preparation for accompanying spouses (if such service is in place)
- Information about Dual Career Services (if such service is in place)
- Possibilities of voluntary work
In addition, local Job/Career fairs or webinars could be promoted via a dedicated webpage or social media. The information could be spread within the framework of the Welcome event.
When setting up this practice consider the following:
- (information) needs analysis among the international staff's family members
- mapping the situation in the local labour market regarding positions published in English; employers with a high demand for international staff as well as international organisations in the city/region
- planning the webpage content; it can contain a compilation of local job platforms/local HEIs' job positions (several HEIs in the city/region can create a webpage compiling local job platforms according to categories, see the example from the FAU Germany)
- transferring the information into the webpage and testing its functioning.
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In the set up phase the external partners’ task is mainly to advise the HEI’s staff on the presented information.
@ Employers association: promoting the association’s activities, showing the country/regional labour market realities/specificities and opportunities for international staff’s spouses/partners to be active in the labour market.
@ Career advisor: may promote theit services such as personal branding, writing effective resumes, developing and modifying a career plan, effective job searching and networking.
@ Job platform: promoting the platform’s services and functionalities.
@ Employer (with a high demand of international staff): promoting the company and possibly headhunting new employees. Representative of international companies/organisations can be invited as speakers to the career events/ orientation sessions presenting a company's profile, job opportunities, enabling thus also professional networking.
Practice delivery
The delivery activities can include:
- updating information on the labour market in consultation with external partners,
- answering potential questions,
- operational maintenance of the webpage,
- approaching and inviting representatives from organisations with a high demand of international staff to the HEI(s)' events
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@ all: In the delivery phase, the external partners’ role is mainly to deliver updated information and to answer requests and questions from the HEI’s staff.
Examples of practice
Employment for spouse / partner
The Finish University of Jyväskylä has included a short description of employment possibilities for international staff’s spouses on a general website dedicated to international staff guidance. The communication summarises the key information on work possibilities and practicalities concerning Finish labour market. It also includes links to the most important labour market institutions and job platforms.
Spouse Support
The University of Iceland’s webpage summarises the most important information about the national labour market to support the international staff spouses in integration. Apart from introduction to the Iceland’s labour market the page also includes some information on leading sector companies in the country and links to recruitment agencies. The page is a part of a wider guide prepared by the International Staff Services Welcome Centre.
Dual Career Programme
Erasmus University Rotterdam is offering the international staff’s spouses Dual Career Programme which is aimed at assistance in job search on the Dutch labour market. The programme proposes personalised support in the form of three-step plan: orientation, training and networking. The programme is offered in cooperation with the universities of Leiden and Delft.
Dual Career Nordbayern Network
The Dual Career Nordbayern Network aims to win and retain top talents, in particular dual career couples who are considering relocating to northern Bavaria. Depending on available capacities, dual career services may be primarily offered to partners of newly-appointed managerial staff in higher-level positions in the central administration of our member organisations, as well as junior group leaders in non-university research establishments and promoted as one of the benefits for experienced international academics to pursue their career at the HEIs or research oragisation in the region.
Career programmes for accompanying spouses
The International House of Copenhagen offers dedicated career programmes for spouses with bachelor's degree or higher education (both online and physical format) as well as the spouses with lower that bachelor's degree.