Wichtiger Hinweis
Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (FH)
Preparatory Training Program for Entry into the Third Qualification Level of the Administrative and Financial Career Track, with a Specialization in Non-Technical Administrative Services
Do you want to actively shape both your personal future and the future of the city of Erlangen?
If you have an interest in public service and a strong sense of responsibility toward our society, enjoy exploring economic issues, and legal and administrative issues spark your curiosity—but also value working with people—then start your journey toward an interesting and varied future with a dual degree program leading to a Bachelor of Public Administration (FH).
Even while you’re studying, you’ll gain firsthand experience with many of the exciting challenges faced by the administration of Bavaria’s smallest major city, the City of Erlangen. You’ll tackle demanding management tasks and implement them efficiently as a representative of the City of Erlangen.
Depending on your area of responsibility, you’ll perform high-level administrative work, address complex issues, manage workflows, and also handle the concerns of our citizens and provide advisory services. If, in addition to your enthusiasm for your work, you also bring a high level of dedication and strong interpersonal skills to the table, you may eventually have the opportunity to lead your own team or department. In short, this degree program prepares you to take on roles ranging from qualified administrative positions to leadership roles in middle and senior management within the public administration.
An attractive, challenging, and varied career awaits you— for me, for us, and for Erlangen.
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FAQs: Dual Degree Program — Master of Public Administration
To become a civil servant candidate in the third qualification level, you must fulfill a number of requirements:
- You must have an unrestricted entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences, a subject-restricted higher education entrance qualification or a general higher education entrance qualification or acquire these by the date of recruitment.
- You must be a German citizen or a citizen of another member state of the European Union, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Iceland or acquire this by the recruitment date.
- You must not have reached the age of 45 at the time of recruitment.
- You must successfully pass the selection test of the State Personnel Committee in October of the year preceding the recruitment year. Further information can be found on the homepage of the Bavarian State Personnel Committee.
In addition, a quick grasp and the ability to think and act flexibly are a matter of course for you. You take responsibility for your tasks and are committed to them. You have people skills, an open and communicative nature and team spirit, because these qualities are particularly important - not only in direct contact with the citizens of Erlangen, but also in cooperation and collaboration with your colleagues and later in management tasks.
The preparatory service at the City of Erlangen lasts 3 years. Theoretical study sections at the University of Applied Sciences for the Civil Service in Bavaria - Department of General Internal Administration - located in Hof alternate with practical work experience in the various municipal departments. Training begins on September 1.
Theoretical studies
The theoretical studies take place within the framework of 4 study sections at the University of Applied Sciences for the Civil Service in Bavaria and mainly comprises legal, economic and administrative science as well as social science study content. The theoretical study sections consist of lectures, interdisciplinary courses, subject-specific exercises and projects. The subjects are divided into three main subject groups:
- Law (e.g. municipal law, administrative law, construction law, social law, private law, European law),
- Economics and finance (e.g. economics, business administration, municipal budget management) and
- Administrative theory (e.g. administrative organization, sociology, personnel management).
A total of approx. 24 written examinations lasting 1 ½ to 5 hours must be taken during the entire course. These serve as a performance indicator for the students. In addition, a project work and an activity-oriented presentation are required. In the second year of training, an intermediate examination takes place towards the end of the 2nd study phase, the passing of which is a prerequisite for continuing the course (with the possibility of repeating it once). The result of the intermediate examination is included in the overall examination result. At the beginning of the 4th semester, students then write a diploma thesis, for which they have 2 months to complete, 1 ½ months of which are lecture-free. The result of the diploma thesis is also included in the overall examination result. In addition, the qualification examination must be completed at the end of the 4th semester. This consists of a written and an oral part. The results achieved here are of course taken into account in the overall examination result.
You can find further information on the theoretical study program on the homepage of the Bavarian Civil Service University - Department of General Internal Administration.
Practical periods of study
The practical training takes place in various specialist departments of the City of Erlangen. We consider you to be a fully-fledged employee during your preparatory service, i.e. you will not be sitting in the basement of the town hall working on theoretical cases, but will be working directly on the front line. Through concrete and practice-oriented activities, you will become familiar with the tasks and typical work processes of the third qualification level and will be systematically familiarized with the content of the profession. You will learn about economic, social and political contexts, apply legal regulations to specific cases, draw up decisions and often have direct contact with the citizens of our city. As an employee of the City of Erlangen, you will ensure that our customers receive comprehensive advice through a service-oriented approach. As a clerk, you will process applications and inquiries, make the necessary administrative decisions, manage work processes and also carry out organizational tasks. As a civil servant at the third qualification level, you will generally take on the difficult and complex cases and issues, as your studies will qualify you for higher-level processing, which will be reflected, among other things, in the examination of commentary and case law. You will solve challenging management tasks and implement them efficiently as a representative of the city of Erlangen. In customer contact, you will take on and deal with conflictual situations in which, in addition to specialist knowledge, negotiating skills, communication skills and other social skills are particularly important.
You can therefore expect a wide range of challenging and varied tasks: From issuing a security order, granting a building permit, granting unemployment benefit II, organizing important cultural events to issuing residence permits for foreign nationals. During your training, you will gain a broad insight into the tasks of our city administration. You will also receive feedback on your strengths and weaknesses so that you can actively tackle your personal development. The aim is always to prepare you for your future employment after your training.
If you perform well, you will have the opportunity to complete an internship abroad as part of your preparatory service. You can also complete an internship with the government of Middle Franconia.
You will be appointed as a civil servant on revocation as soon as you start your studies. This gives rise to special rights and obligations that are regulated by law for civil servants, as you are in a relationship of service and loyalty under public law. You will not receive a training contract, as the appointment as a civil servant is made by issuing a certificate of appointment. When you register with the Bavarian Civil Service University, you also acquire student status for the duration of your studies.
During your studies, you will receive a monthly salary of €1,563.85 (gross) and around €1,513.44 (net) if you are unmarried and have no children.
In addition, there are capital-forming benefits of €13.29 per month, a special payment (Christmas bonus) and possibly a local and family allowance.
The salary is based on the Bavarian Salary Act (BayBesG).
(Status: 01.02.2025)
After graduation, the starting salary in grade A9, level 2, is currently € 3,294.99 (gross) and approx. € 2,779.58 (net) if you are unmarried and have no children.
In addition, you will receive capital-forming benefits of € 6.65 per month, a special payment (Christmas bonus) and possibly a local and family allowance. You can also expect regular salary increases and performance-related steps.
The salary is based on the Bavarian Salary Act (BayBesG).
The dual course concept offers you the advantage of being employed by the City of Erlangen during your studies. You do not have to pay any fees as part of your studies at the University of Applied Sciences for the Civil Service, as all tuition and examination fees are paid by the City of Erlangen. Free accommodation is also provided for our students at the university in Hof.
For the duration of the preparatory service, an official laptop is also provided for use.
Travel to the university for the civil service in Bavaria is reimbursed in accordance with the Bavarian Travel Expenses Act (BayRKG) and the Separation Allowance Ordinance (TGV).
All the social benefits that the city administration of Erlangen offers its employees naturally also apply to our junior staff.
Anyone who regularly travels to work by public transport receives a monthly travel allowance from the City of Erlangen. During their training, junior staff can purchase the Bavarian discount ticket (€43 ticket). The costs incurred for this are subsidized by the city of Erlangen to the amount of €20 upon application. However, it is also possible (depending on availability) to apply for a municipal employee parking space.
Civil servants are not subject to compulsory health, pension and unemployment insurance. However, there is compulsory insurance for long-term care insurance. Even as a civil servant candidate, you are entitled to benefits from the City of Erlangen. The allowance is a pro rata reimbursement by the employer to the person entitled to the allowance for specific expenses incurred in cases of illness, nursing care and childbirth as well as for measures for the early detection of illnesses and vaccinations. The allowance usually covers 50 to 80% of the costs. You can take out private health insurance to cover the remaining costs.
Due to generous flexitime rules, daily working hours outside of school hours can be flexibly arranged in most areas of employment from the time you reach the age of majority.
As part of the company health management program, we offer regular sports courses and other health-promoting activities that you can take part in.
The number of trainees at the City of Erlangen is based on the anticipated personnel requirements.
The City of Erlangen can therefore offer you a guarantee of subsequent employment if you are suitable, qualified and have the necessary technical skills.
Upon successful completion of the course, you will be awarded the academic degree "Diplom-Verwaltungswirt*in (FH)".
As part of the preparatory service, you will be trained as a "generalist". This means that during your training you will be prepared for the diverse tasks of our city administration within the framework of assignments in the various specialist areas, with the result that you will be able to work almost anywhere after successfully completing your preparatory service; only then will you specialize to a certain extent with the assigned position. As part of your personal development, you can then also apply for internally advertised positions and change careers within the city administration (job rotation). This means that you can expect to work in a wide variety of areas later on, allowing you to change jobs and thus work according to your interests and skills. You will be faced with a variety of tasks and activities with a high level of requirements. Taking on a qualified clerical role means working and making decisions independently and responsibly in your own area of responsibility, always involving complex tasks and case processing. Your work as a clerk may be followed by the management of a specialist area or the management of a department.
The organization of our city administration is reflected in the business distribution plan.
At the City of Erlangen, training is seen as the first step in personnel development. After completing it, employees have extensive career advancement and development opportunities at their disposal. For further professional qualification, a varied and high-quality further education and training program is offered.
There are opportunities for promotion up to administrative board member. The principle of performance orientation is at the heart of what happens at Erlangen City Council.
In addition, particularly qualified and motivated civil servants can be promoted to the fourth qualification level (former higher non-technical administrative service) by means of modular qualification.
The application period runs from approximately March to June of the previous year of employment.
Please refer to the annual job advertisement for the exact date.
Online application to the Bavarian State Personnel Committee
We kindly ask you to apply exclusively via the online form of the Bavarian State Personnel Committee. You can find the form here. In the online application, select "Diplom-Verwaltungswirt*in (FH) in der Kommunalverwaltung" under fields of study and "Stadt Erlangen" under place of work. It is not necessary to send application documents directly to the City of Erlangen for the time being.
Further information on the selection procedure of the State Personnel Committee can be found at www.lpa.bayern.de.
Selection procedure of the Bavarian State Personnel Committee
After the end of the application period, you will receive an invitation to the selection test of the State Personnel Committee, which takes place in October of the year preceding the recruitment year, and you will successfully take part in it.
You are expected to receive your result from the State Personnel Committee in the form of an examination certificate with your overall grade and place number in mid-December following the selection test.
Personnel selection procedure of the City of Erlangen
In the period from December to February, you will be invited to a supplementary selection procedure of the City of Erlangen, depending on the result of the selection test of the State Personnel Committee. The City of Erlangen will only contact applicants who are eligible for invitation to the personnel selection procedure on the basis of the number of places achieved. All other applicants will not be contacted and will not receive any written notification. Therefore, please refrain from sending us a written application in advance. The supplementary selection procedure of the City of Erlangen is carried out according to the rules of an assessment center and consists of several modules.
We will then inform you as soon as possible whether or not you can be employed by the City of Erlangen.
We see diversity as an enrichment and are committed to equal opportunities. In principle, all positions are part-time. People with severe disabilities are given priority if they are equally qualified.
For general questions about the recruitment process and technical questions about the job description:
Ms. Faltin
Phone: 09131/86-3872
E-mail: ausbildung@stadt.erlangen.de