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The systematic shortage of labor resources is recognized by Germany at the state level. According to politicians, to make up for it, about 500,000 migrants must come to the country every year. To this end, the state simplifies the employment of foreigners. Since March 2020, a new migration law has been in force in Germany. Previously, it was possible to offer a job to a foreigner only after the permission of the employment service to make sure that Germans were employed first of all. Now, for positions that require qualified specialists with both higher and special education such a check is not necessary, which means that you can get a job faster. In addition, specialists can now come to Germany without a signed contract in order to find a job. The main conditions are the presence of a profession (diploma) and a confirmed knowledge of German at a level not lower than B1. You can stay in the country for up to six months, however, you need to have the means to live these months.
How to find a job in other countries:
Germans themselves prefer to look for work via the Internet. Job sites in addition to vacancies often contain useful information: how to make a CV, how to write a letter of recommendation, how to communicate with a potential employer, what salary to expect, what are the taxes in the country, etc.
A good example of a purely informational resource for working in Germany e-fellows.net. It offers a lot of practical tips, especially if you are a beginner in the field of the job search in Germany.
There are two types of job search sites:
Search engines
They offer a list of vacancies, but do not allow you to create a CV or a profile. The most popular ones are:
Exchanges
They provide an opportunity for employers to post vacancies, and for candidates to fill out their own CVs on the site, receive invitations from potential employers and monitor available vacancies. These include:
There is also a category of specialized job sites. Here you can find an attractive vacancy for those who are interested in a position in a particular field. For instance:
And a few more sites:
The Federal Labor Exchange allows you to find a job with or without a higher education in various parts of Germany. It works not only in German, but also in English and French.
The site shows how many vacancies in a particular specialty there are in a particular city. Both regular and advanced searches are conducted, taking into account the type of employment, working hours, size of the organization, etc.
The most popular job search sites are Xing and Linkedin. Moreover, the first is focused mainly on German companies, and the second - on international organizations. Create a profile here, take the time to fill it out and perhaps very soon the headhunter will find you.
There are many large manufacturing enterprises in Germany: Bosch, Audi, Siemens, Daimler, IBM Deutschland, etc. Therefore, if you want to get a job there specifically, go to the website of the relevant company and look for the "Vacancies" tab (Karriere, Jobs, Jobangebote) to check what specialists are required.
If you managed to find the appropriate position, write or better call the specified phone number. If not, send your CV to the specified email address. Of course, at least – in English, and better – in German.
A very important condition. You can find a lot of vacancies with basic knowledge of the language, but mostly these are common labour. For highly qualified personnel, you need to know German at a level not lower than B1, although in some cases you can do need good English.
Often, knowledge of German becomes a prerequisite for a permit to enter the country. In this case, you will need to provide a formal confirmation of the level of knowledge. It can be obtained from the Goethe-Institut and several other organizations.
If you want to work in your specialty, you must understand that your diploma must be comparable to the German one and in principle be recognized as a diploma. To check this point, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a special database, which includes all educational institutions of the world with a note on whether their diploma is recognized or not. If your diploma is not in the database, then the verification scheme is more complex.
But even if your diploma is in the database, this does not mean that you can immediately start looking for a job. In Germany, there is a list of regulated professions: to get the opportunity to work in the country, such specialists will have to finish their studies for several semesters, complete an internship and pass the state exam, receiving a certificate of recognition of the diploma.
Moreover, confirmation is not always required. For example, if you are a doctor, your diploma is checked for being in the database, then you become an assistant, pass an internship and only then pass the state exam. If an engineer is an international-level diploma recognition is sufficient for employment. You will only need to take the qualification exam if you decide to open your own office.
To recognize the diploma, you need to contact the appropriate institute, finding it in the same database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There you will also find a list of regulated professions.
If your profession is not included in the list of "regulated", a form is filled out on the same anabin website, after which a letter with step-by-step instructions will be sent to the email address you specified. The fee for this procedure €200 for the first confirmation and €100 for subsequent/repeated ones. But if your diploma is in the database marked H+, then consider it already recognized. In this case, the main confirmation of your qualifications is employment. A printout from the database is enough for the embassy.
As already noted, for most vacancies from 2020, there is no need to obtain consent from the state labor exchange. Moreover, in search of work, a foreigner can independently come to Germany on a special visa. However, the main method is still a preliminary job search and the conclusion of a contract or at least a job offer as a justification for obtaining a visa.
With a contract or job offer in your hands, you can already contact the German Embassy. You will receive a long-term / indefinite residence permit and if you meet all the conditions - a national type D visa.
There is another option. Highly qualified specialists can apply for the EU Blue Card. You need to meet two conditions:
Blaue Karte holders can get permanent residence after 21 (if they know German at the B1 level) or 33 months. Such a permit is issued for the duration of the contract plus 3 months. Moreover, the first two years you either have to work with the original employer, or when you change it, get a new card. Another advantage is the simplified entry of family members to Germany: no knowledge of the German language is required and an instant work permit is obtained.
The situation is complicated if you do not have a higher education. If your profession is included in the above "white list", you have an advantage. The procedure here is similar to higher education: if you have a diploma of vocational secondary education, you need to recognize it, find a suitable vacancy, sign a contract and you can apply for a national general visa (see the list of documents on the website of the embassy of your country/city).
The national visa is issued after 1.5-3 months and upon arrival in Germany within 7 days is exchanged for an Ausländeramt (a residence permit with a standard period of 2 years or for the duration of the contract). Then the residence permit is extended, and after 5 years you can get permanent residence. As we have already said, for the holders of the Blue Card, the procedure is accelerated.
The specialists with the highest salary are the most in demand in Germany. First of all, we are talking about engineers and doctors. In the first case, the country does not have enough university graduates, the number of employees of pre-retirement age is noticeably higher. This is especially true for electrical engineers. A similar situation is in medicine. There is a shortage of young qualified doctors in the country, with the exception of dentists and pharmacists.
IT specialists and interface designers can easily find jobs anywhere in the world. And Germany is no exception. Employees of the machine and automotive industries are also required: from workers on the production line to engineers and managers.
There is also a shortage of teachers, especially in fields of as chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology and foreign languages.
If you look at the list of popular vacancies, then German employers are most often looking for workers in factories (machine-building, grocery, cosmetic production), drivers, mechanics, handymen in shops and restaurants, receptionists in hotels, cooks, builders, nurses.
In such cases, a common condition is the presence of at least a basic knowledge of the German language. Sometimes the employer offers to pay for courses with a scholarship and housing for the duration of the training.
