A Digital Application for Digital Natives to Improve Orientation Competence and Career Choice Decisions

Abstract

Many young people find it difficult to choose a career. The range of options is diverse and often opaque. A digital application is being developed as part of the JOLanDA project - Improving the orientation skills of young people in rural regions in biographical decision-making processes - funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The aim is to improve the orientation of young people and to promote career choice decisions. Especially young people from rural regions are often under a double burden: they have to make a career choice decision and at the same time consider whether this profession can be practiced in their region. This is often associated with a migration decision for them (leave or stay?). By using various methods, such as gamification, digital natives who have grown up with technologies of the digital age [18] are to be prepared for the career orientation phase in a playful way. On the platform, young people go on a journey of discovery, they can start different expeditions and walk along discovery paths where they can find out what might suit them professionally and what makes them happy. The application aims to raise awareness of the dynamics of biographical decisions.