Get to know the unemployment rules as a new graduate
The unemployment insurance fund (a-kasse) is your financial safety net if you're out of a job for a while. You're also entitled to unemployment benefits as a new graduate if you make sure to join before you graduate. Read more about unemployment benefits after graduation here.
Unemployment insurance funds and trade unions are not the same
IDA doesn’t have an unemployment insurance fund (a-kasse), but we collaborate with Akademikernes A-Kasse. You need to sign up for the unemployment insurance fund, it doesn’t happen automatically. You can get a free membership if you’re a student under the age of 30. This will guarantee you unemployment benefits from your first day after graduation if you don’t have a job.
Remember that state education grants are paid in advance and unemployment insurance benefits are paid in arrears, so putting a little money aside for your first month of unemployment is a good idea.
What to do as a graduate?
Once you’ve graduated, you will need to change your membership status at the unemployment insurance fund to new graduate. You have to do this no later than 14 days after your final exam. This will secure your right to unemployment benefits. If you miss the 14-day deadline, you’ll need to work full-time for one year to be entitled to unemployment benefits.
Moreover, you have to register as unemployed at jobnet.dk on the first day of unemployment after graduation. So, remember to enter these important days in your diary.
Finding your way around jobnet and the job centre
It may seem a bit confusing at the beginning, because you have to contact several entities when you register as unemployed.
In order to receive unemployment benefits, you first have to register as unemployed at jobnet.dk, which is the job centre website. At jobnet.dk, you also have to fill out a CV by no later than 2 weeks after you’ve registered as unemployed. You cannot receive your first unemployment benefits before you’ve completed the CV.
About Akademikernes A-kasse
Akademikernes A-kasse´s primary task is to help members on their journey. Besides providing financial security, the unemployment insurance fund is an important sparring partner during the different transitions in student life or working life – when landing your first job after graduating, when you’re between jobs or when you’re considering becoming self-employed.
Akademikernes A-kasse is committed to developing services and guidance to prepare members for the labour market of the future, where many will change jobs much more often than in the past.
The unemployment insurance fund system
Once you have registered as unemployed on jobnet.dk, you have to fill in a declaration of unemployment (ledighedserklæring) on the website of the unemployment insurance fund. The declaration of unemployment is your application for unemployment benefits.
In addition to the declaration of unemployment, you will have to fill in a benefits card (ydelseskort) on the unemployment insurance fund’s website every month. The card is like a calendar or a time registration system at work. You register how many weekdays you’ve been unemployed without being ill, on holiday or in some other way unavailable for the labour market.
Your unemployment benefits are calculated on the basis of your benefits card, so if you forget to fill it in, your benefits cannot be paid out at the usual time, and you may find yourself in a difficult financial situation when your bills fall due at the beginning of the month. So, enter the monthly deadline for filling in the benefit card in your diary as well.
You also have to fill in a job profile on the website of the unemployment insurance fund. You need to do this within the first week of unemployment. The unemployment insurance fund uses the job profile so they know about your competences and your profile when they call you in for the first meeting and try to match you with vacant positions in their job portal.
The unemployment insurance fund will also send you a reminder if you don’t apply for 1-2 jobs a week or if you fail to register your job search activities in a job log. You can fill in your job log on the unemployment insurance fund website or on the job centre website.
The jobs you apply for can be through solicited or unsolicited job applications to companies you want to work for. But it can also be meetings in your network with people with hiring responsibility.
Many people find employment via their network, and it’s quite normal to reach out and hear about opportunities for development and vacancies in many industries. So, don’t hesitate to invite yourself for a coffee with companies you find interesting. If you want to learn more about how to network and to use your network in your job hunt, check out our videos on the topic of networking.
The job centre will register whether you apply for jobs
Both the unemployment insurance fund and the job centre can advise you on your job search and the labour market. While the unemployment insurance fund needs documentation for how many days a month you’re unemployed and available to the labour market, the role of the job centre is to help you with job activation, for example. Your age will determine when you can be enrolled in job activation.
In addition to job activation, you can also try to contact companies you find interesting by applying for a one-month unpaid on-the-job-training programme during which you can keep receiving your unemployment benefits. The job centre will help you with this as well.
Even though you’ll be invited to the first meetings both by the unemployment insurance fund and the job centre, you must usually book subsequent meetings yourself. It’s therefore important that you keep an eye on your various inboxes, so you don’t miss a notice to book a meeting or show up somewhere. In most places, you’ll get your own profile and inbox in their system, so it’s not enough just to check your own inbox. You also need to keep yourself up to date at both the unemployment insurance fund and the job centre.
