In short and in plain language
This post shows a page of its own for internships and voluntary service. It helps young people get to know care early.
The post explains what you can write about length, pocket money and tasks. The task list leaves out skilled nursing.
A section for parents helps with young applicants. A contact for schools opens the way to places.
A short application without a cover letter lowers the barrier. A timeline shows the path into training.
We build this page as part of your career page.
Half of all new care trainees are 21 or younger: 51 percent (Federal Statistical Office) of new training contracts in 2025 went to this age group. Anyone who wants to reach these people has to start earlier than the job ad for the apprenticeship. Many young people get to know care through a school placement, an orientation internship, a Voluntary Social Year (FSJ) or the Federal Volunteer Service (BFD). On most home care websites these paths do not appear at all. This article shows how to build a dedicated page for internships and volunteer service: with correct key facts on duration and pocket money, a task list without skilled nursing, a section for parents, a contact for schools and a quick application that leads into training.
Key takeaways
- 51 percent (Federal Statistical Office) of new care training contracts in 2025 were signed by people aged 21 or younger. The target group is still at school or has just left it.
- A voluntary orientation internship of up to three months (Section 22 MiLoG) is not covered by the minimum wage, and neither is a mandatory placement under school law. The page names both forms separately.
- FSJ and BFD usually last twelve months, at least six and regularly no more than 18 months (Section 3 BFDG, Section 5 JFDG). Pocket money is capped at 8 percent of the contribution ceiling.
- Volunteers provide mainly practical support work (Section 3 BFDG). Treatment care and solo visits therefore do not belong on the task list of the page.
- For minors, parents have a say. A dedicated parents section explains working hours, supervision and the agreement, and a contact for schools opens the way to placements.
- A quick application with five fields and no cover letter lowers the barrier. A timeline shows how internship and volunteer service lead into the three-year training.
Who the target group before training is
In 2025, around 63,900 (Federal Statistical Office) people signed a new training contract to become a registered nurse (Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann). 51 percent (Federal Statistical Office) of them, or 32,700 contracts, were signed by people aged 21 or younger. The average age of all new trainees was 24 years (Federal Statistical Office). Anyone looking for new talent is therefore largely talking to people who are just finishing school or are about to, and to their parents.
This matters especially for home care services. Only 12 percent (Federal Statistical Office) of new training contracts in 2025 were with home care providers, 36 percent with residential care facilities and around half with hospitals. Anyone who has never seen everyday home care rarely thinks of it when choosing a career. An internship or volunteer service at a home care provider is often the first contact with this work, and a page that explains this entry point takes it out of the randomness of notice boards and word of mouth.
The page addresses several groups, each bringing different questions:
- Pupils in career orientation who complete a mandatory placement under the rules of their school. Under the Youth Employment Protection Act, a child is anyone under 15 years, and a young person is anyone aged 15 but not yet 18 years (Section 2 JArbSchG).
- School leavers facing the training decision who are looking for an orientation internship or a volunteer service.
- Parents who have a say for minors and must consent to agreements.
- Schools and careers advisers who arrange placements and need a fixed contact person for this.
- Adults who want to do the Federal Volunteer Service. The law sets no upper age limit there; the requirement is completed full-time compulsory schooling (Section 2 BFDG).
How this differs from other career pages
Four paths before training: presenting the key facts correctly
On many career pages, internship and volunteer service share a single sentence, often with vague details on duration or pay. The four paths differ considerably in legal terms. A table that sets them side by side answers the most common questions before they are asked, and shows parents and schools alike that the provider knows the rules.
| Path | Duration | Money | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| School placement (mandatory) | as set by the school | no minimum wage entitlement | Section 22(1) MiLoG, Section 5(2) JArbSchG |
| Orientation internship | up to three months | no minimum wage entitlement within this period | Section 22(1) sentence 2 no. 2 MiLoG |
| Voluntary Social Year (FSJ) | usually 12 months, 6 to 18 months | pocket money, at most 8 percent of the contribution ceiling | Sections 2 and 5 JFDG |
| Federal Volunteer Service (BFD) | usually 12 months, 6 to 18 months, exceptionally up to 24 | pocket money, at most 8 percent of the contribution ceiling | Sections 2 and 3 BFDG |
| Training as a registered nurse | 3 years full-time, at most 5 years part-time | training allowance | Section 6 PflBG |
Two points regularly cause errors on career pages. First, the minimum wage exemption for a voluntary orientation internship only applies to an internship of up to three months (Section 22 MiLoG). Anyone who wants to offer a longer voluntary internship should have the pay checked legally in advance. Second, people under 18 without completed vocational training are not employees within the meaning of the Minimum Wage Act (Section 22(2) MiLoG). The page therefore makes no blanket statement such as “internships are unpaid”, but says for each path what applies at your service, and refers special cases to a personal conversation.
Even a short internship needs clear arrangements. For internships within its scope, the Evidence Act requires the essential terms to be set down in writing, signed and handed over at the latest before the internship starts (Section 2(1a) NachwG). This includes learning and training goals, start and duration, daily hours, pay and leave. If you record these points in writing for every internship anyway, you can show them on the page as a process: conversation, agreement, first day.
FSJ and BFD: pocket money, seminars, placement site
Volunteer service is the longest path before training and often the most productive one for care providers. Volunteers usually work in the service for twelve months (Section 3(2) BFDG), get to know the team and clients, and afterwards have a solid basis for deciding on training. The Voluntary Social Year is open to people who have completed full-time compulsory schooling but are not yet 27 years old (Section 2 JFDG). The Federal Volunteer Service lasts at least six and at most 18 months; as part of a special educational concept it can exceptionally be extended to up to 24 months (Section 3(2) BFDG).
When it comes to pocket money, a clear figure helps more than a vague “by arrangement”. The law sets a cap: at most 8 percent (Section 2 BFDG, Section 2 JFDG) of the monthly contribution ceiling in the statutory pension insurance. In 2026 this ceiling is 8,450 euros (Section 4 SVBezGrV 2026) per month. This results in a cap of 676 euros (own calculation from Section 2 BFDG and Section 4 SVBezGrV 2026) of pocket money per month for 2026. The contribution ceiling is set anew for each year, so the cap changes with it. State the amount your service actually pays on the page and explain the cap in one sentence.
Volunteer service includes educational support and seminars: for twelve months of participation, at least 25 days (Section 4 BFDG, Section 5 JFDG). These days are missing from the roster and therefore belong on the page, so that nobody is surprised. In addition, a care provider can only take on volunteers at a recognised placement site, and recognition is granted for specific places (Section 6 BFDG). The placement site is subject to the reporting, contribution record and payment obligations of social insurance law (Section 17 BFDG). If you do not yet have recognised places, say so honestly and point to the internship route instead.
- Duration with the usual case and the range: usually twelve months, at least six, regularly no more than 18.
- Pocket money as an amount, together with the legal cap and any allowances agreed with the provider organisation.
- Seminar days and educational support, noting that these days count as service time.
- Start: fixed start dates or rolling entry, and by when an application makes sense.
- Number of recognised places, or an honest note that recognition is still pending.
- Contact person with name, phone and email instead of a general shared inbox.
Tasks without skilled nursing: what volunteers and interns do
The most important question from parents and schools is: what will my child actually do there? For the Federal Volunteer Service, the law sets the direction. It is performed as mainly practical support work, among others in welfare, health and elderly care facilities, and must be designed to be neutral for the labour market (Section 3(1) BFDG). Volunteers therefore do not replace a skilled worker. This applies even more to interns: they accompany, observe and help, they do not provide care on their own.
Joining the rounds
Riding along with a registered nurse, getting to know the clients and observing the routines during home visits.
Conversation and time
Reading aloud, going for walks, keeping company and listening: activities for which the route plan often leaves little room.
Help with daily life
Shopping, preparing meals and small household tasks under guidance, within the scope of the agreed services.
Office organisation
Preparing materials, helping to plan the rounds and sorting documents, without access to health data not needed for the task.
No treatment care
Medication, injections, dressings and other services prescribed by a doctor remain with the registered nurses.
No solo visits
Interns and volunteers do not drive to clients alone and bear no professional responsibility for the care provided.
This list belongs on the page as concretely as it is practised in the service. It prevents two misunderstandings: that volunteers are planned in as cheap stand-ins, and that young people believe they have to take on a responsibility they cannot yet carry. A short paragraph about the person who guides interns and volunteers day to day rounds off the section, ideally with name and photo. Real pictures from everyday work help more than stock images here; what matters is explained in the article on authentic photos on the care website.
Under 18: working hours and a section for parents
Many applicants are still minors. The Youth Employment Protection Act applies to them. Employing children, meaning people under 15, is generally prohibited; a work placement during full-time compulsory schooling is one of the legal exceptions (Section 5 JArbSchG). Young people may not be employed for more than eight hours a day and not more than 40 hours a week (Section 8(1) JArbSchG), only on five days a week (Section 15 JArbSchG) and generally only between 6 am and 8 pm (Section 14(1) JArbSchG).
For home care services with early shifts from the early morning and late shifts in the evening, this means: the page honestly shows which shifts are possible for minors. For young people over 16, the law provides exceptions to the night rest, for example for multi-shift operations (Section 14(2) JArbSchG). For Saturdays and Sundays, it explicitly names hospitals as well as homes for the elderly, care homes and children’s homes as exceptions (Sections 16 and 17 JArbSchG). Whether and how these exceptions apply to a home care service should be clarified legally before publication; the page should only show what you actually put into practice.
The parents section is therefore more than a friendly extra. Minors need the consent of their legal representative for a declaration of intent that does not merely give them a legal advantage (Section 107 BGB). For the Federal Volunteer Service, the written agreement must include the address of the parents or guardians and the consent of the legal representative for minors (Section 8 BFDG). Parents therefore read the page too, often more thoroughly than their children, and they need different information:
- Working hours and breaks for minors, with start and end of the shifts that come into question.
- Who guides them: name and role of the contact person at the service.
- How they get to the clients: riding along in the service car, no journeys alone.
- Which documents are needed: agreement with parental consent, and the school documents for school placements.
- Confidentiality and the handling of client data in plain words.
- A phone number for questions from parents, with the times someone can be reached.
Two readers, one page
A contact for schools and careers advice
For career orientation, schools look for providers that offer placements reliably. For teachers, a service with a clear contact person is easier to recommend than one where the enquiry disappears into a shared inbox. A dedicated contact for schools on the page turns your service into a partner the school will come back to the following year. Mandatory placements under school regulations are exempt from the minimum wage (Section 22(1) MiLoG); the details are set by the school and the federal state, so the schools form asks about period and requirements.
- A fixed contact person for schools with a direct line and email address.
- Periods in which placements are available, and the number of places per period.
- A short form for teachers: school, class, period, number of interns and school requirements.
- An information sheet to download that the school can pass on to parents.
- An offer for career orientation days or a visit to a class, if your team can manage it.
The school contact also works in search: anyone looking for care placements in their town comes across pages that state location, service area and contact person. The basics are covered in the article on local visibility for care services; how we implement this for your service is described in our local SEO for care services.
A timeline from internship into training
The core of the page is a timeline that shows how the paths connect. It makes visible that an internship is not an end in itself but the first step into a profession. Training as a registered nurse takes three years full-time and at most five years part-time (Section 6 PflBG). Access is open, among others, to anyone who has successfully completed the intermediate school certificate or another ten-year general school education (Section 11 PflBG).
- School placement: duration as set by the school, a first look at everyday home care.
- Orientation internship: up to three months after leaving school or during the holidays, with a fixed contact person.
- FSJ or BFD: usually twelve months, with pocket money, seminars and growing independence within the support role.
- Training: three years full-time, with an application made from within the ongoing volunteer service.
- After the final exam: joining the team, made visible through voices from your own team once staff have agreed.
Each stage links to the matching place on your website: the orientation internship leads to the quick application, the volunteer service to the section on places and pocket money, and training to your care job postings. Anyone already looking at training will also ask about placements in other facilities. How a home care service reaches trainees from other providers is shown in the article on the mandatory home care placement.
The quick application: five fields, no cover letter
A sixteen-year-old does not write a cover letter for an internship, and she does not have to. At the end of the page there is therefore a short form that can be completed on a smartphone in a few minutes. How a quick application is structured in principle is explained in the article on the quick care application without a cover letter; for the target group before training, even fewer details are enough.
- Name and contact channel: phone or email, whichever the person prefers.
- Preferred path: school placement, orientation internship, FSJ, BFD or straight into training.
- Period: from when and for how long, with a free text field for school requirements.
- Under 18: a tick box so that you involve the parents from the start and plan working hours accordingly.
- Preferred reply: call back, message or a visit to the office.
A quick application also contains personal data, which must be handled with particular care for minors. The form therefore needs clear privacy information and a fixed deletion period for enquiries that lead nowhere. What matters here is covered in the article on deleting applicant data and retention periods; our page on privacy for care websites summarises the technical basics.
Whether the page works shows in a few figures: enquiries per path, the share of enquiries from minors and the number of interns and volunteers who later start training. Which metrics are worth tracking for care websites is described in the article on care website metrics that matter. It is important to look at the figures over several years, because the path from school placement to training often takes longer than a year.
The internship and volunteer page is one building block of your career page, not a replacement for it. It works best when training, jobs and team are easy to reach on the same website. We build these pages as part of a career page for care services and agree the key facts with your supervisors and the provider organisation. For a first conversation, reach us via the contact form.
Sources and legal texts
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