EN

Use Cases

Use of TimberVetProof

TimberVetProof, which is based on the European Qualifications Framework for Timber Construction, provides a foundation and guidance for all individuals and organisations working in the timber construction sector to validate skills and further develop the vocational training framework for timber construction.

It is up to users to determine the specific applications that are suitable for them. The following section presents practical use cases that can be subjected to a validation and development process. They provide examples – without claiming to be exhaustive – of how user groups such as those new to timber construction, apprentices, skilled workers, companies, educational institutions, trainers or associations can use the assessment tool.

To facilitate getting started, usage scenarios have already been assigned to individual user groups. Clicking on user groups thus provides an immediate insight into relevant validation options and development considerations. Recommendations for test templates are already attached to the test and development scenarios, forming the practical basis for subsequent investigations in the test portal.

Use cases – Real-world examples

1. Individuals (non-specialists, apprentices, skilled workers in timber construction)
  • Career guidance prior to commencing vocational training
    • Those entering the profession can explore career options in timber construction in the run-up to their career choice and gain an overview of the skills associated with the various qualifications available to a carpenter, as well as how these differ from one another.
    • Prospective candidates are provided with information on individual qualifications and opportunities for further training in the craft of timber construction.
  • Creating a skills profile
    • Career starters from other or related sectors (non-specialists) can demonstrate knowledge, skills and competences relevant to timber construction.
    • Employees in timber construction firms without formal training can create a personal competence profile based on their non-formal or informal experience.
    • Individuals with formal training in timber construction are able to present a meaningful craft-based competence profile in addition to their formal qualifications.
  • Validating the competence profile
    • Wood construction professionals review their competence profile against the qualifications framework and receive a written and graphical assessment of their skills and development potential.
    • Wood construction professionals can use their competence status to identify which further qualifications they might consider.
    • In the context of internal appointments, including the associated pay grade classifications, wood construction professionals can prepare and substantiate the case for their suitability.
  • Identifying career prospects
    • Individuals with or without formal training in timber construction can review the limits of their own skills and consider opportunities for continuing professional development, further training and qualifications leading to career advancement.
    • Individuals gain an overview of any gaps in their knowledge and skills across key competence and learning outcome areas, enabling them to target and address these gaps effectively.
  • Supporting job applications
    • Individuals can assess their own skills more accurately by comparing them with the competencies required in external job advertisements.
    • Individuals can support their applications and the qualifications contained therein with a personalised skills profile.
    • Applications for professional engagements abroad (e.g. internships abroad, mobility activities, taking up permanent employment as a specialist in timber construction) can be supported in a clearer and more comprehensible manner with evidence of personal skill levels.
2. Companies in the timber construction trade
  • Skills status and development
    • For existing and future employees, skills levels and skills gaps can be quickly identified, and opportunities for skills development and career progression can be determined swiftly and in concrete terms.
    • Companies can gain an understanding of what individuals from other European countries know, understand and are capable of performing competently based on their qualification levels.
  • Drafting job advertisements
    • Companies can formulate precise and comparable job advertisements with specific competence requirements.
    • In the context of job advertisements, potential applicants can be made aware of the TimberVetProof.
  • Reviewing applicant profiles
    • In addition to submitting professional qualifications or recent employment references, job applicants may be asked to provide a personal skills profile to help clarify their qualifications.
    • Applicants’ skills profiles can be compared with the skills requirements in job advertisements as part of a matching process (target-actual analysis).
    • Unsolicited applications can be reviewed for suitability for existing vacancies.
    • The assessment of qualification certificates from other European countries is enhanced by specific competence assessments.
  • Clarifying job classification during the application process
    • Competence profiles of successful candidates can be used as a basis for the job description and the resulting employment contracts.
    • For applicants, a target-actual comparison can be used to assess the possibility of unconditional employment, skills development within the ongoing business operations, opportunities for accompanying further training measures, or the prospect of a qualification for promotion.
  • Creation of training plans
    • Companies are able to create training plans for workplace-based learning for career starters based on the digital EQF-Timber and adapt these in the medium to long term.
  • Assessing skills levels within the organisation
    • Organisations are able to draw up the job profiles and role descriptions required for their operations.
    • To assess skills levels within the organisation, existing skills profiles can be created for the entire workforce and compared with existing job profiles and role descriptions.
    • By comparing target and actual levels as part of the assessment of competence status, development needs can be identified for individual roles.
  • Determining training formats
    • Based on development needs, companies can consider analogue, digital or course-based training measures (e.g. in cooperation with training providers).
3. Training centres / educational institutions
  • Reviewing and further developing the range of courses on offer
    • Training centres and educational institutions analyse the current status of their curricula against the qualifications framework and identify potential areas for expansion.
  • Establish a learning infrastructure
    • Training centres and educational institutions are able to map subjects, learning content, learning resources and individual achievements to the required learning outcomes and qualification levels.
  • Formulate new educational programmes
    • Training centres define the priority training needs against the backdrop of previously non-existent formal training or the implementation of a vocational training framework in timber construction.
    • Educational institutions define analogue, digital and course-based competence formats for continuing professional development and further training in key competences, which, as micro-credentials, can complement or temporarily replace formal training programmes. These can be implemented at the educational institution or in cooperation with other educational institutions.
  • Assess the competence levels of training staff
    • Training providers (companies, vocational schools, inter-company training centres) should verify that trainers possess the necessary skills and define specific stages for developing their competence.
  • Support mobility activities
    • The placement of learners, trainees, skilled workers and trainers on stays abroad for learning and experience-building purposes in European timber construction requires that learners and host organisations exchange information in advance of the mobility activity regarding required and existing knowledge, skills and competences, with a view to ensuring a fruitful exchange. Corresponding profiles can be created in a similar way to the matching process between applicants and companies.
  • International cooperation in vocational education and training
    • Educational institutions can expand their range of courses through international cooperation initiatives in vocational education and training, e.g. by setting up course-based seminar programmes or sharing digital learning platforms.
    • Educational institutions in the development phase can utilise opportunities for targeted structural and content-related development to build national expertise.
4. Trainers / Teaching staff
  • Defining teaching competence
    • Trainers identify and reflect on their specific teaching competence in order to develop it in a targeted manner within the framework of the competence framework.
  • Developing train-the-trainer programmes
    • Educational institutions, in collaboration with their trainers, explore short- and medium-term measures for targeted professional development within the framework of train-the-trainer programmes.
5. Timber Construction Associations
  • Development of the curriculum for the vocational training system in timber construction
    • Those responsible for vocational training can compare and contextualise the curriculum framework for vocational training in timber construction against the situation in other European countries.
    • Those responsible for vocational training in European countries use the EQF-Timber to define the content and formal foundations of training when establishing or reorienting vocational training in timber construction.
  • Developing National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF)
    • Those responsible for vocational training in European countries establish the basis for drafting a National Qualifications Framework for timber construction (NQF Timber Construction) by comparing the learning opportunities and learning outcomes specified in the country-specific framework with the European Qualifications Framework for timber construction.
    • Those responsible for vocational training can, based on an existing National Qualifications Framework for timber construction, determine the medium- to long-term further development of the NQF Timber Construction.
  • Definition and development of curricula
    • Those responsible for vocational training use the EQF-Timber, against the backdrop of previously non-existent formal training or the first-time implementation of a vocational training framework in timber construction, to define priority or key areas of basic training in timber construction and to develop initial measures for the content of a curriculum.
    • The country-specific NQF provides an important structural and content-based foundation for deriving framework curricula and training programmes for training in traditional timber construction.

The scenarios presented for potential applications of TimberVetProof form the basis for carrying out specific testing and development processes. Even at this stage, interested parties can get an idea of which user group they belong to and which test scenarios may be relevant to them. The test scenarios already include recommended guidelines for suitable test sheets (templates). You can access the starting point and further information for moving on to practical implementation by clicking on the button.

Test Portal