Founded September 2008 Key people 12 employees | Location Germany | |
Website www.alumniportal-deutschland.org | ||
Alumniportal Deutschland is a non-profit online social network of "Germany Alumni" – designed for anyone from around the world who has studied, researched, worked or completed a (further) training or a language course in Germany or at a German institution abroad. The portal is a networking platform for both the professional and private field. It is open to any and all international Germany Alumni, regardless of whether or not they received a scholarship from one of the many German scholarship organizations, participated in an organized study abroad program, or enrolled directly in an institution. The use of Alumniportal Deutschland is free for individuals and businesses.
Contents
The project is administered by a core group of five major German organizations, supported by strategic partners and financed by the German Federal Government.
The Alumniportal Deutschland is available in both English and German. The communication language within the community is arbitrary.
Goals and contents
Alumniportal Deutschland offers Germany Alumni the opportunity to build and deepen their contacts to other Germany Alumni as well as to German and Germany-related institutions, organizations and businesses.
In addition to community features, the website offers an international job & career market, information on training programmes and events around the world, an editorial part with articles on culture, society, education science & research and economy as well as online German language training tools and webinars on current topics.
Alumniportal gives participating organizations access to a global network of contacts with a direct connection to Germany as an addition to their own alumni activities and recruiting efforts. The website enables businesses to connect to employees, experts, or potential partners.
Background / History
Alumni relations efforts for study abroad and professional development organizations in Germany have historically been limited to each group reaching out to their specific alumni. However, approximately 80% of people from abroad who study or undertake professional training in Germany – a total of roughly 14,000 people per year – are “free movers”, organizing and financing their own program. Trying to get in touch with these free movers was a complicated and often fruitless effort.
Alumniportal Deutschland is an online social network created entirely for Germany Alumni, regardless of organizational affiliation. Bringing this group of individuals together is aimed at creating tangible benefits for the Germany Alumni, for the various scholarship organizations, and for companies and institutions looking for highly qualified individuals with experience in Germany.
Since its inception in 2008, more than 90,000 users, from 184 countries have registered with the Alumniportal (as of March 2014).
Structure of the Website
The Alumniportal Deutschland is divided into four sections: the Online Community, the Magazine, Webinars & Events and a section on Jobs & Careers.
The Online Community is the social networking component of the website. Registered members have the opportunity to network and communicate with fellow alumni and participating organizations using the standard array of social networking tools such as groups, blogs, profiles, forums, etc.
The Magazine section is where users can find news from Germany and on German topics, as well as learn or brush up on their German language skills. There are articles on the economy, science and research and culture, among other topics. There is also the opportunity to take part in a campaign called 'Verstehen Sie Deutsch?', where users are encouraged to guess the meanings of obscure German idioms to help improve their understanding of the German language. This section also contains information on places to study in Germany and where to find scholarships.
The Webinars & Events section lists Germany-related events by country, from career fairs to cultural events to academic lectures on German topics. Alumniportal Deutschland also regularly hosts webinars with experts on a variety of themes. The focus for 2014 is the digitalisation of society and many of the articles and webinars found on the website deal with this topic.
The Jobs & Careers section provides a job board with German-speaking jobs listed by country with an advanced search function. Users can also build an 'Expert Profile', allowing companies to search for specific skills and find new employees with an established connection to Germany. After registering for with the Alumniportal, they can post job advertisements, search resumes, or post upcoming events.
Partner Organizations
The five primary non-profit and non-governmental organizations responsible for creating, maintaining and promoting Alumniportal Deutschland are:
More than ten "strategic partners" support the partner organizations. Amongst others, these are the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and several political foundations such as the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Heinrich Boell Foundation.