Step by step towards a professional qualification New qualification approach for measures of the funded professional development Handouts for educational institutions, employment agencies and job centres The labour market situation for the low-qualified is uncertain: on the one hand, the offer of employments below the levels of skilled workers decreases continuously; on the other hand, the equivalency qualifications on offer on the professional development market are often organised in a way that they are specific to the stakeholders and relevant only on local labour markets. This is where the new concept of certified partial qualifications (TQ concept) set in. The modular education offer consists of nationally standardised and certified partial qualifications (TQ). Each TQ contains all competences required for identified fields of applications within companies. With these certified partial qualifications the low-qualified unemployed or low-qualified employed may increase their chances on the first labour market. The handouts of the series "Step by step" include the partial qualifications for the following five professions and an area of activity that is not ordered by profession: machine and system operators (specialism: metal and plastics engineering), professional driver, specialist/skilled worker for protection and safety, service specialist for dialogue marketing, process mechanic for plastics and rubber technology as well as the area of activity around system gastronomy/catering. The handbooks provide employees of employment agencies and basic security offices as well as company personnel managers with an overview over the aims and contents of partial qualifications, as well as over the graduates' subsequent areas of application. Educational institutions, employment agencies and companies obtain detailed information about measure contents and the individual competence assessments. With the help of the handbooks admission offices will be able to assess documents, which educational institutions submit for AZWV certifications. The handbooks were developed within the scope of the project "Optimierung der Qualifizierungsangebote für gering qualifizierte Arbeitslose (optimisation of qualification provisions for the low-qualified unemployed)", which the research institute Forschungsinstitut Betriebliche Bildung (f-bb) carried out in cooperation with the Institut für Wirtschaftspädagogik (IWP, Institute of Economic Education) of the University St. Gallen on behalf of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency).