Ausbildung Application Checklist

The core package

Found an Ausbildung you're interested in? Before you click Bewerben, make sure your application is complete, targeted and submitted exactly as the employer asks. For most Ausbildung applications, the core package is:

Depending on the occupation, the employer and your background, you may also need additional documents. Federal Employment Agency — Bewerbungsunterlagen ↗

Still deciding which occupation to apply for? Ausbildung Profession Finder →

Your three core documents

✉️ Anschreiben — the cover letter

Your Anschreiben explains why you're applying for this Ausbildung at this company, and why you're a suitable candidate. The Federal Employment Agency is explicit that you should tailor it to each Ausbildungsbetrieb rather than sending the same letter everywhere — and that the same applies to your CV.

BA — how to write the Anschreiben ↗

📄 Lebenslauf — the CV

Your Lebenslauf gives a structured overview of your education, experience and relevant skills. For Ausbildung applications a clear tabellarischer Lebenslauf — tabular, reverse-chronological — is the expected format.

🎓 Zeugnisse — school certificates

Your certificates are the evidence behind everything you've claimed. For an Ausbildung application this normally means your relevant school certificate or certificates.

• Most recent school certificate
• Final school-leaving certificate, if you already have it
• Earlier certificates, if requested — or if a previous year was stronger than your most recent one
• Relevant Praktikumsbescheinigungen (internship certificates)
• Relevant qualification and competition certificates

If you're applying from outside Germany

Applying with a foreign education brings extra questions — and this is where applicants most often spend money they didn't need to spend.

The employer's instructions beat this page

This section matters more than any generic checklist. Before you submit, open the actual vacancy again and read it properly. A perfect application sent through the wrong channel still fails.

Also note what the vacancy says about the required documents themselves — CV, cover letter, certificates, language certificate, photo, ID, portfolio, an additional questionnaire. And check whether there's a stated deadline (Einsendeschluss) and a named contact person; if there is, write down the name and contact details.

Before you click submit

The final pass. Work through all three groups — your ticks are saved on this device, so you can use this again for the next application.

How to submit

Online portal

Follow the portal step by step. You'll typically create an account, enter personal details, upload documents individually, answer questions, and re-enter information that's already in your CV. It's tedious; do it anyway, and do it accurately.

• Every mandatory field completed
• Correct documents uploaded — no duplicates, no wrong files
• Whole application reviewed before final submission
• Confirmation page or email saved

Email

If the employer accepts email applications, use a clear subject line:

Where no specific structure is requested, one clearly organised PDF containing your core documents is the practical approach — the Federal Employment Agency describes combining the documents into a single PDF as the norm for online applications sent by email.

• Correct recipient address
• Professional subject line
• Short, polite covering message in the email body
• Correct attachment, which you have opened and checked
• File not too large
• Professional sender email address — not one from school
• Copy sent to yourself as a record of submission

After you apply

The process doesn't end when you click submit.

Track every application

The Federal Employment Agency recommends keeping an overview of where and when you applied, who the contact people are, and whether you've been invited to interview. A simple spreadsheet is enough:

Confirmation of receipt

If you get an automatic confirmation, save it. If you don't get one, don't assume anything went wrong — plenty of employers simply don't send them.

Following up

Don't chase immediately. The Federal Employment Agency puts it plainly: asking too quickly usually achieves nothing. If you've heard nothing after around four weeks, a polite enquiry about whether a decision has been made — or when you can expect one — is reasonable and shows continued interest.

What you don't need yet

This may be the most useful section on the page. These documents belong to later stages — mostly immigration — or to specific occupations and individual cases. They are usually not part of an initial employer application:

• Blocked account (Sperrkonto)
• Proof of financing
• Visa application or residence permit
• Health-insurance registration for the visa
• A signed Ausbildungsvertrag — that comes after you're selected
• Chamber registration confirmation
• Visa-format biometric photographs
• Police clearance certificate, in the general case
• A ZAB Zeugnisbewertung, simply because you hold a foreign school certificate
• An apostille or legalisation, solely because you're applying for an Ausbildung

The mistakes that sink applications

• ✕Sending the same Anschreiben everywhere. The BA specifically recommends adapting the application to each Ausbildungsbetrieb — and recruiters spot a recycled letter instantly.
• ✕Sending documents nobody asked for. More documents do not mean a stronger application. They mean a longer one.
• ✕Sending originals. Keep them. You'll need them at the visa stage.
• ✕Assuming a passport copy is always required. Check the vacancy.
• ✕Assuming a German certificate is always required. It depends on the employer, occupation and training provider.
• ✕Ordering a ZAB evaluation you don't need. Check whether it even applies to your qualification first.
• ✕Ignoring the portal instructions. A perfect application sent the wrong way still fails.
• ✕Applying too late. Larger companies recruit around eighteen months ahead. By spring, many places for that autumn are gone.
• ✕Sending unreadable scans. If a certificate is hard to read, it doesn't count as evidence.
• ✕Losing track of applications. Where, when, who contacted you, and when to follow up — write it down or you'll lose it.

Are you ready to submit?

Eleven statements. If you can tick all of them, send it.

Official sources

The application-document guidance on this page comes from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit. Where a detail matters to your application, check it there — and check the vacancy, which always wins.

Frequently asked