Specialist Caregiver EFZ

About the job

Together for quality of life

Specialist Caregiver EFZ

Apprenticeship

Workplace: Igis / Landquart / Untervaz

Workload: 100%

Specialist caregivers support children, adolescents, elderly people and individuals with disabilities in managing everyday life. They promote and maintain their independence as far as possible. We offer you training in the field of people with disabilities at the residential centre Arche Nova in Landquart.

You will learn your self-, social, professional and methodological skills through everyday and leisure support of people with intellectual disabilities or psychological impairments. You promote the abilities of the residents, recognise their needs and support them in their independence.

Our basic attitude in your training

• We strive for a learning environment characterised by mutual respect, tolerance and openness.
• We offer you space to assume your role as a trainee specialist caregiver.
• We enable you to experience various learning forms that promote individual, holistic and self-directed learning.
• We have clear regulations; we define the scope of action together.
• You learn through practical work and reflection, systematically using leadership and training tools.
• We see learning in practice as a continuous and progressive process.
• Through differentiated, constructive and justified feedback, we achieve learning success together and promote your transfer thinking – from theory to practice.

Key points of your training

Your apprenticeship lasts 3 years and is divided into three learning fields:

• The school-based training takes place at the Health and Social Education Centre (BGS) in Chur.
• The inter-company courses (ÜK) support your learning success by imparting fundamental and industry-specific skills.
• The professional learning fields are offered in the residential groups and day centre of the Arche Nova residential centre in the Landquart region.

We support you if you aim to obtain the vocational baccalaureate (BM) during your apprenticeship. Please indicate your interest in your application.

During your vocational training, you have five weeks of holiday per year.

Regulations govern exceptional permits for night and Sunday work for apprentices in the health and social sector. From the age of 17, you work a maximum of two nights per week and no more than ten nights per year.

On Sundays or public holidays, from the age of 17, you work at most once per month, but no more than two public holidays per year that do not fall on a Sunday.

Our requirements for you

• You enjoy contact with people
• You are a team player and communicative
• You have empathy for people with care and support needs
• You work carefully and precisely
• You act responsibly
• You are resilient and willing to work irregular hours

Perspectives after your apprenticeship

After completing your apprenticeship, you can work as a specialist caregiver or pursue the federal professional examination to become a specialist for supporting people with disabilities, a team leader in social and social-medical institutions, or a migration specialist.

Furthermore, you can take the higher professional examination to become a certified institution manager in the social and social-medical sector or a certified work pedagogue.

The higher technical school offers further training opportunities to become a certified activation specialist HF, social pedagogue HF, child educator HF, or community animator HF.

At the university of applied sciences, you can obtain a Bachelor of Arts/Science (FH) in Social Work with specialisation in social work, social pedagogy or socio-cultural animation, in applied psychology or occupational therapy.

Selection procedure

After reviewing your application, you will be informed about the selection decision. If you are shortlisted, the training manager will arrange an interview and selection days. The selection days give you insight into everyday work and allow us to get to know each other better. The selection days are organised by us and take place at the Arche Nova residential centre in Landquart.

The employment decision is made by at least two people, usually the training manager and a vocational trainer.

Your benefits at a glance

We offer you a vocational training tailored to you. At PDGR, we generally provide all apprenticeships at the Federal VET Diploma (EFZ) level.

Training for the Federal VET Certificate (EBA) is possible depending on prerequisites and in certain professions after consultation with the education department.

We support you if you aim to obtain the vocational baccalaureate (BM) during your apprenticeship. Please indicate your interest in your application.

As a competitive athlete, we enable you, in consultation with the Office for Vocational Education and your sports association/club, to have special training conditions to create an ideal combination of vocational training and competitive sport. During the preliminary assessment, we carefully check whether your sport is compatible with your chosen apprenticeship and training goals.

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All our apprentices receive 5 weeks of holiday per year. If you work the 43-hour week model, you even get 5 additional days off (compensation days). These are worked in advance throughout the year within the 43-hour week.

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At the introductory days in August, you meet all new apprentices at the Beverin Clinic in Cazis. After a welcome by Josef Müller, CEO, you receive initial insights into PDGR and get job-specific information about your apprenticeship start. The day concludes with a joint aperitif attended by your vocational trainer. Your parents and relatives are of course also invited.

The next two days are spent together by all new apprentices. We work on various topics in workshops to prepare you for starting your apprenticeship.

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Out of the everyday – the apprentice day is the annual highlight for our apprentices. Once a year, you meet all apprentices for a joint activity. Gold panning in the Surselva, planting fir trees with WWF in Prättigau, or visiting the RhB workshops in Landquart are examples from past apprentice days.

The day promotes exchange among apprentices from different professions and offers you a cross-professional experience.

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Every profession has industry-standard apprentice wages. Would you like a bit more? We value our youngest employees and are happy to pay our apprentices a little extra so they can manage well with their first income. Additionally, there is a 13th monthly salary. There are also allowances for work on Sundays and evenings, for example as a health specialist – always within the framework of youth protection.

Tips for your budget planning can be found here.

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We strive to provide apprentices in all areas and professions with a varied and well-supported apprenticeship. As a company with over 1,200 employees, we use our diverse opportunities. This allows us to give our apprentices insights into different areas and they can complete parts of their apprenticeship at different locations.

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No matter the profession – you are part of the PDGR team and work with different employees and professions.

"Community" is one of our core values: Everyone contributes their individuality and works constructively with other professions – this is how we progress. Your ideas and opinions are also desired and welcome.

Learn more about our values here.

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Work routine and collaboration

In your workday and private life, much exciting, new, unexpected and challenging happens – much of it for the first time. In the person of your vocational trainer, supervisor or training manager, you always have a contact person. Talk about things that burden, overwhelm or hinder you. Together we look for solutions and help you.

If you cannot manage alone or with your environment, sometimes talking to an external specialist helps. For this, we have an independent counselling service available to employees – neutral, anonymous and free of charge.

Learning and succeeding at the three learning locations

Difficulties at school, in the ÜK or in practical learning? We are happy to support our apprentices individually with their personal challenges during the apprenticeship. We encourage attending support courses or other offers from your vocational school.

Your training company

The PDGR and its values

"Open psychiatry – by leading experts for the people" is our vision. You are the expert – with your expertise, skills and above all your personality, you enrich our interprofessional teams.

Our experts share their knowledge for the best possible quality. They are trustworthy, competent and guided by the latest findings. The PDGR stand as a beacon and are an important support for society.