Career Guidance Platform Digital Professions.at

Digital professions are an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, the Internet offensive Austria and whatchado GmbH, which created an orientation platform for digital professions that informs about the full breadth of digital professions. In doing so, the platform helps to increase knowledge of digital work opportunities in Austria and to stimulate interest in digital professions.
Background and main activities
Information and career guidance in digital professions are essential measures to address the shortage of ICT specialists. They form the core of digital professions.at. The website specifically addresses the following questions:
- In which sectors are the professions to be found?
- What are the prospects for the future of the different professions?
- What skills are needed to work in the field of work in question?
The platform is aimed at the following target groups:
- Teachers: Teachers receive information for teaching, as well as free educational materials for downloading to bring digital professions closer to students in a creative way.
- Pupils: They will be provided with guidance with practical insights into digital professions.
- Guardians: Parents will have access to the topic of digital professions and insights into the professions of the future.
As an orientation platform, the portal, with a matching function, shows precisely the possibilities that match the respective interests of the users. Fourteen short questions on current interests should be answered, after which videos will be displayed. These videos include stories of people working in digital professions.
Content is divided into Design and Development, Operation & Security and Digital Applications. Within these segments, descriptions of occupations, future prospects, starting salaries and training pathways are included. In addition, documents in PDF format are available for teachers as downloads. It describes the different occupations and proposes appropriate exercises for students.
What makes digital professions.at a good practice?
The Digital Professions Portal can be used individually by itself, but can also be used as part of professional guidance courses or teaching. This promotes the intensive use and wide reach of the portal, which is characterized by a high level of clarity and multimedia content: Videos give a lively insight into the professional situation and the information is structured and thoroughly prepared: The platform describes future prospects, entry salaries and training paths within the three occupations “Design & Development”, “Operation & Security” and “Digital Applications”.
This example is a good practice as it responds to the urgent need to address the shortage of IT specialists in Austria and Europe. The Digital Professions platform, a collaboration between different organizations, provides comprehensive information on digital professions and targets different audiences, including teachers, students and parents. The personalized matching function and multimedia content increase the usefulness of the platform. It helps to increase knowledge of digital professions and support the recruitment of IT professionals, which can strengthen competitiveness in this area.