In this episode of the ‘Amtlich voran’ podcast, I’m speaking to Anna-Marie Fuchs from the City of Cologne about apprenticeship marketing. She works in HR marketing and has a particular soft spot for her ‘favourite target group’: young talent. And the scale of it is impressive: the City of Cologne offers more than 35 apprenticeship programmes and dual study programmes and currently employs around 1,000 young professionals. One thing Anna said really stuck with me:
“I’ve had very, very good experiences with placing a strong emphasis on our current young talent – that is, apprentices – and really utilising them as brand ambassadors.”
After all, successful apprenticeship marketing isn’t simply about finding that one perfect channel. What matters are numerous relevant touchpoints – from schools and apprenticeship fairs, through Instagram and learning platforms, right up to poster advertising and Gamescom. Among other things, we discussed:
🎯 A single target group for apprentices? It doesn’t exist.
School leavers, career changers in their mid-20s or 30s, different school qualifications and more than 35 career paths: if you want to reach young talent, you need to understand their diverse needs.
📱 Instagram, Ausbildung.de, Studyflix & Co.
The City of Cologne combines its careers website and social media with platforms such as Ausbildung.de and Studyflix – and places particular emphasis on current apprentices as authentic brand ambassadors.
🏫 Simply being present isn’t enough – interaction is what counts.
Anna has already visited around 15 to 20 schools this year. Her experience: traditional information stands tend to be only moderately effective, whilst application workshops, quizzes, surveys and personal insights from apprentices generate significantly more attention.
🔗 Further links
- LinkedIn: Anna-Marie Fuchs
- City of Cologne officially
- ‘amtlich voran’ forum on 1 October in Berlin – where Anna will speak alongside Matthias Klement in the session ‘Between reach and relevance – how public sector employers reach talent.’
- Spotify playlist featuring all previous ‘amtlich voran’ episodes
🎧 Want to know how modern apprenticeship marketing works if you’re looking to inspire young talent across more than 35 different career paths? Then have a listen now to the latest episode of the ‘amtlich voran’ podcast featuring Anna-Marie Fuchs: