„There are always ways to come back to RWTH“

When you hear the name “RWTH Aachen University,” you immediately think of cutting-edge research, innovation, and academic excellence. You might not immediately think of the fact that the University also provides an attractive work environment as an employer. RWTH provides both researchers and staff in technical and administrative roles with an exciting working environment. This environment is known for its excellence, international character, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Department 12.0 – Staff Development and Talent Management was created specifically for recruitment and staff development. This demonstrates that RWTH takes the responsibility that it has to find the right personnel in science, engineering, and administration very seriously and that it aims to meet its high quality standards in the field of human resources. Why was it so important to the University to highlight recruitment and staff development as key strategic priorities? How does recruitment work today in science, engineering, and administration? What does RWTH offer its staff as an employer? These questions take center stage in a conversation between Dr. Alan Hansen, head of Department 12.0, as well as Barbara Göbbels, deputy head of the department and head of Division 12.1 – Early-Career Researcher Development and Talent Management, and the “keep in touch” team.

Dr. Hansen, Ms. Göbbels, why is RWTH even focusing on the topics of recruiting and the University’s attractiveness as an employer—and why are these issues of such importance to our administration? How did your department actually come to be established?

The establishment of our Staff Development and Talent Management department was the result of a deliberate strategic decision by the Rectorate. The department has now been in existence for five years.

The University management recognized early on that professionally identifying, attracting, and retaining people who are a good fit for RWTH is a key issue for our future. It is the only way to ensure the long-term sustainability of research, teaching, technology transfer, and administration. RWTH is also a pioneer in this area—combining personnel development, recruiting, and health management into a single division as we have done is currently an entirely unique undertaking among German universities.

This issue has become even more important, especially given the growing shortage of skilled workers, changing skill requirements, and increasing international competition. Our structure allows us to combine professional recruiting strategies with systematic onboarding and targeted professional development.

What is important to us here is that the responsibility for recruiting and developing employees continues to rest with the managers in the individual organizational units. We see ourselves as being a supportive and advisory partner in this process.

The main goal of our recruiting initiatives is to expand the pool of qualified applicants and raise the profile of RWTH as an attractive employer.

Since March 2026, we have also been operating on the basis of a new human resources development strategy. It outlines the strategic framework for the next five years and it focuses on the entire employee lifecycle—from recruitment through onboarding and development to departure. Even though we’re primarily discussing recruiting and onboarding today, we believe that talent acquisition and development are fundamentally a comprehensive endeavor.

Last year, RWTH’s new career portal went live. What benefits does this portal offer, and what has been your experience with it so far?

The new career portal was developed in 2025 and it was a joint effort by Department 12.0, the Marketing Staff Unit, and the Web Team that belongs to Department 5.0. A major advantage of the portal is its clear navigation interface that can be adapted for each target group. It is split up into different employment sectors, meaning that interested users can quickly find the fields of employment that suit them, access specific information, and go directly to the relevant job postings.

In addition, we have included quotes from employees that provide authentic insights into everyday work life at RWTH. They highlight what makes RWTH stand out as an employer, and they showcase the people who work here. This helps to promote transparency and a sense of community.

So far, we have received very positive feedback both from internal and external sources. This includes feedback from employees or from conversations that we have had with prospective candidates at career fairs. The portal’s clear structure and engaging content design have been particularly well received. Overall, the portal helps showcase the diversity of RWTH as an employer in a clear and modern way.

 

You just mentioned career fairs. How successful are exhibition booths for RWTH when it comes to recruiting?

By participating in career fairs and other events, RWTH increases its visibility as an employer in the region—even in places where people might not immediately expect to find us, such as at the Kimiko Festival. We strive to reach out to the public on various levels and highlight the wide range of career opportunities available at RWTH. Career fairs are an especially important source of information for technical and administrative professionals, allowing them to get to know potential new employers and learn about specific entry-level opportunities. At these events, we offer them the chance to engage directly with RWTH, we build rapport, and we provide authentic insights into day-to-day work, sharing information about the different entry-level and career development opportunities we have to offer. All of this is very well received. Many people associate RWTH primarily with science and research, but they often don’t realize just how many other fields of work exist here—for example, in facilities management or financial management. It’s important to us to make RWTH approachable and tangible and to showcase the people who work here.

Depending on the event and target audience, we sometimes work with Division 8.4 – Vocational Training, particularly when we are focusing on apprenticeship programs and on entry-level opportunities for high school students. At other events, however, the focus is on doctoral positions or academic career paths. There is also a variety of reasons why people are interested in working at RWTH. When it comes to doctoral positions, RWTH’s excellent reputation often plays a critical role. For employees in technical and administrative roles, however, aspects such as flexible work schedules, opportunities for professional development, job security, and a positive team culture are particularly important. Overall, we are able to present many attractive benefits and career prospects to different target groups with a high level of confidence.

One of the specific responsibilities of Department 12.0 is to actively recruit staff. How does RWTH currently conduct a proactive search for new employees?

The proactive search for new employees is primarily focused on professorships, and we conduct the search in a significantly more strategic manner than we would do for a traditional job posting. To do this, we make targeted use of specialized recruiting tools and conduct research on relevant platforms such as LinkedIn or ResearchGate to identify potential candidates. An important addition to this is our collaboration with the University Library’s bibliometrics team. Using research field analyses based on publication data, we can gain an external perspective on the respective field, and we can use this to refine our search further.

This results in a comprehensive list of potential candidates who can be actively approached. We take aspects such as internationality, diversity, and equal opportunities into account from the very beginning.

 

You just mentioned that you only really recruit proactively in the case of professors. Are there any exceptions to this rule?

Yes, there are. We also conduct a proactive search in cases where positions are particularly difficult to fill or where they involve key roles in academia or administration—such as leadership positions at central institutions. However, we always make such decisions on a case-by-case basis and based on a variety of criteria.

If necessary, we also collaborate with external experts, specialized agencies, and the Marketing Staff Unit. In addition, we recommend subject-specific job posting portals to increase the visibility of job postings and to directly reach the appropriate target groups.

 

What is the onboarding process at RWTH like? How does Department 12.0 help with this?

For us, onboarding is at least as important as recruiting new employees. After all, there’s little point in us making attractive promises if the person’s first impression at the University doesn’t live up to expectations.

That’s why we offer support for onboarding in various areas and for different target groups. One example is the annual “Welcome Workshop for Newly Appointed Professors.” One of the things this workshop offers new professors is the opportunity to get to know the key RWTH service units that support them in their work. They are officially welcomed by the Rectorate at the same time, and they have the chance to network with their peers early on.

To welcome our new employees in management, administration, technology, and IT, we host a welcome event every six months in collaboration with Department 3.0 – Press and Communications. This event is called “Wir.RWTH.Gemeinsam.” and the Rector and the Chancellor are always in attendance. In addition to general information about RWTH, the event focuses above all on promoting an open and informal atmosphere. The event is designed to provide information, encourage personal interaction, and help new employees establish contacts and networks within the University early on. At the same time, we want to give participants firsthand experience of RWTH and show them that we are an employer with many different facets.

In addition to this, it is important for us to raise our managers’ awareness of the importance of a successful onboarding process. That is why we offer the short workshop “All Aboard? My Role as a Manager in the Onboarding Process for New Employees” twice a year. The session focuses on the changing expectations of new employees, current trends in the job market, and the role of managers throughout the entire onboarding process. In addition to group discussion, the session also presents and discusses tips, practical tools, and actionable strategies.

 

RWTH offers numerous opportunities for further development. To what extent do these opportunities help the University to retain skilled professionals?

We know from numerous scientific studies—as well as from our day-to-day work—that the prospect of professional development is one of the strongest factors in making a job attractive. This is especially true for our early-career researchers who are in the process of earning their qualifications, but it also applies to all other employees. We offer an exceptionally broad and targeted professional development program that goes far beyond traditional continuing education seminars. We offer coaching, job shadowing, reflection sessions, peer counseling, and much more. This range of offerings opens up both horizontal and vertical career development opportunities, which strengthen employees' long-term commitment to the University. For us, professional development is a key component in attracting and retaining qualified employees in the long term. This is also reflected in the high level of demand for these programs. Each year, we have around 5,000 participants, and many of whom give positive feedback on the things we offer.

 

RWTH places a high priority on diversity and actively promotes it. What do you see as the benefits of having diverse teams?

Diversity is not something we have to create artificially at RWTH; it is a living reality here, both among our students and our employees. Diverse teams are not an exception for us; indeed, they are the reason why our University is so successful. Diversity and equality are binding cultural values at RWTH. In joint projects, diverse teams are generally not only more creative, but they also lead to more sophisticated and sustainable decisions being made, as the team is taking a range of different perspectives into account.

However, diversity can also present challenges, and these must be actively managed, especially by those in leadership positions. We are not just talking about international diversity here, but also, for example, generational diversity, varying work schedules, and introverted or extroverted personalities. Only then can the potential that comes with diversity truly be realized, and only then will everyone feel a sense of belonging to a team or department. Diversity can be challenging, but various organizations, such as the IGaD, actively work to raise awareness and provide extensive support to managers to help them establish a respectful and non-discriminatory work culture.

 

In conclusion, what would you say is the best way for someone to contact RWTH if they’d like to join us again?

Generally, it’s a good idea for alumni to start by taking a look at the RWTH career portal and checking the job portal for the latest job postings. From there, they can contact the respective institution or organization directly. There’s also no reason why they shouldn’t reach out to their former department again to discuss their specific situation. We’re always happy when alumni approach us at career fairs so we can discuss their specific needs together.

We’d like to reiterate that RWTH isn’t just a place for students and early-career researchers—there’s a wide variety of job opportunities here for people in every professional field. So for those who’d like to return to Aachen, RWTH is a really great place to start looking for potential jobs.

We know a number of RWTH alumni who are very happy to have returned to their old stomping grounds—after all, we’re both RWTH alumni ourselves.

Barbara Göbbels returned to RWTH Aachen University ten years after completing her studies and after having worked in the private sector. Alan Hansen returned after completing his doctorate and working at the University of Cologne. There are always ways to come back to RWTH. Our alumni have extensive previous knowledge of RWTH and this can be a decisive advantage when combined with the experience they’ve gained elsewhere.

Ms. Göbbels, Dr. Hansen, many thanks for the enjoyable and informative conversation!

– Authors: Dr. Alan Hansen, Barbara Göbbels, Siba Fitzau