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Ready for clarity?
Talk to your advisor at the Job Center or the Employment Agency. Say specifically what you want to achieve. There is no legal entitlement to an AVGS; the decision rests with your advisor. A clear reason helps.
Free of charge through the Job Center
Coaching via the Job Center in Berlin
One-on-one coaching, fully paid for by the Job Center or Employment Agency
Maybe your advisor at the Job Center mentioned coaching. Or you heard that others got support this way and wonder how it works. Here you’ll find out how coaching via the Job Center works in Berlin, who can get it, and whether you can say no.
What is coaching via the Job Center?
- The Job Center or the Employment Agency can pay for professional one-on-one coaching in full, usually through the Activation and Placement Voucher (AVGS).
- For you, the coaching is free. You pay nothing and take on no financial obligations.
- You redeem the voucher with an AZAV-certified provider, for example Good Prospects: at four locations in Berlin, in Rostock, or online. Our coaching is available in English.
Behind it is usually the Activation and Placement Voucher, AVGS for short. With this voucher, the Job Center or the Employment Agency covers 100 percent of the cost of coaching with a certified provider. You choose the provider yourself and decide whether the offer suits you.
This is not an off-the-shelf application course. With us, you work one-on-one on what actually moves you forward: orientation, application documents, interview preparation. At your pace and tailored to your situation.
Job Center or Employment Agency: who is responsible for you?
Both can fund coaching with an AVGS. Your contact is the office that supports you:
- You receive basic income support (Grundsicherung, formerly Bürgergeld)? Then your path runs through the Job Center (Jobcenter).
- You receive unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld) or are registered with the Employment Agency? Then you talk to your placement advisor there (Agentur für Arbeit).
Funding is possible for people who are unemployed, at risk of unemployment, or looking for vocational training. Whether you meet the requirements is checked by your advisor in a conversation. In both cases: you can redeem the voucher with us.
Two paths to funded coaching
1. AVGS coaching. The classic path for anyone who wants to move forward professionally: finding direction, improving applications, preparing a return to work. How our one-on-one coaching works is on the page AVGS Coaching Berlin.
2. Psychosocial coaching. Sometimes the application isn’t the issue, but life around it: stress, feeling overwhelmed, too much at once. For this, the Job Center has a separate program, called holistic support under Section 16k SGB II. We call it psychosocial coaching. Stability comes before applications here. This program is voluntary. If you don’t start or you stop, your benefits are not cut.
Not sure which path fits your situation? Then get in touch. We’ll look at it together, free and without obligation.
One-on-one coaching via the Job Center: what to expect at Good Prospects
One-on-one means: it's about your situation, not a standard program. No group course, no presenting in front of twenty people. You and your coach, at times that fit your everyday life. We handle the paperwork with the Job Center. On request, we coach in English.
Clarity about your direction
We look at your strengths and experience and turn them into realistic next steps.
Applications that fit you
CV, cover letter, and profiles that show what you can do, in the format German employers expect.
Interview preparation
Job interviews and appointments at the Job Center: you walk in prepared.
Knowing the system
We know how the Job Center and the Employment Agency work and explain what letters and deadlines mean.
Application training via the Employment Agency
If the Employment Agency supports you, you may know this offer as “Bewerbungstraining”, application training. It also runs through the AVGS. With us, application training is not a course but part of your one-on-one coaching: documents, presence, interview skills, until you feel confident. More on our AVGS coaching.
How to get your coaching: three steps
A detailed guide with phrasing tips for the conversation is on our page about applying for an AVGS.
Our AVGS coaching is AZAV-accredited, certified by the certification body ZERT PUNKT. The accreditation covers measures for activation and professional integration.
For you, this means: we are allowed to redeem your AVGS, and the Job Center or the Employment Agency covers the full cost. You pay nothing.
Coaching via the Job Center in Berlin: our locations
In Berlin we coach you at four locations: Adlershof, Schöneweide, Lichtenberg, and Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Which Job Center supports you doesn’t matter; you choose the location that works best for you.
We also have a location in Rostock. And if you prefer online: coaching by video call is possible with the same voucher. If your voucher lists a regional restriction, we clarify that with you in advance.
Options for your next step
Our job coaching
If you notice that you could use support with your career direction, you’ll find coaching programmes here that start right at these transitions, in Berlin and online. How to get the voucher for them is explained in How to apply for an AVGS.
Frequently asked questions about coaching via the Job Center
The questions we’re asked most often
Nothing. With the AVGS, the Job Center or the Employment Agency covers the cost in full. There are no co-payments and no hidden costs.
No. You don’t have to use the AVGS, and you choose the provider yourself. Whether you do the coaching is your decision, made before the Job Center approves your participation. After that, one thing changes: the approval letter includes a notice about legal consequences. If you don’t start or you stop an approved program without good reason, you risk a reduction of your benefits. This also applies to programs the Job Center assigns to you.
The exception is holistic support under Section 16k SGB II: it is voluntary in every case. Not starting or stopping does not lead to a reduction. If you’re unsure, ask your advisor before you decide.
Yes. You decide whether to use the voucher, which provider you redeem it with, and whether the offer suits you. A first consultation with us is without obligation. As long as your participation hasn’t been approved, you can cancel without giving reasons. Once it’s approved, talk to your advisor at the Job Center before you stop. As the provider, we have to report a withdrawal to them.
For psychosocial coaching under Section 16k: stopping does not lead to a reduction of your benefits.
That’s on your voucher: it sets the scope and time frame, matched to your situation. In the first consultation we look together at how to make good use of your voucher.
Yes, within what your voucher allows. You choose which approved provider you do the coaching with, as long as their offer matches the goal and content of your voucher. It’s worth having a first consultation without obligation. You’ll quickly notice whether it’s a good fit.
Feel free to contact us beforehand. We explain how to apply for the AVGS, and you go into the conversation with your advisor with a clear idea. The steps are on our page How to apply for an AVGS.