Is
your CV adapted to the German job market? Find out how to search and
apply for a job in Germany, and understand your employment rights under
labour law and your work contract.
Finding
a job in a foreign country is more difficult than just knowing what
field you want to go into – it is also crucial to familiarise yourself
with the labour culture and laws of your new home. Below is
Expatica’s
in depth guide to job searching in Germany. Whether you have questions
about how to prepare your CV or how employment contracts work, Expatica
is here to help.
How to get a residence and work permit
EU
citizens do not need a permit to work in Germany, provided they have a
valid passport or national identity card and comply with
German employment laws and regulations. For non-European citizens, whether a
work permit is issued depends on the type of resident permit you hold.
The residence permit depends
on the type of intended employment. There are different kinds of
employment: non-qualified, qualified, highly qualified, and
self-employment.
Given the difficulty of getting a work permit,
many people consider working illegally. However, finding illegal work in
Germany is difficult and not recommended. Illegal workers are under
constant threat of deportation and are often exploited by employers. An
employer cannot even be forced to pay for work done by someone who is
working illegally.
Finding Work
Whenever
you apply for a full-time position, employers will expect a thick
package that documents your entire educational and
professional career
and is based on your CV or resume, known as a lebenslauf. Like any CV, the lebenslauf
should include a listing of all your previous positions and
responsibilities, in reverse chronological order, as well as any degrees
and outside activities and your final grades. However, Germans also
expect you to include your marital status, sex, birth date, number of
children and a recent photo.
Alongside the CV, applications
should include written recommendations from all previous employers and
copies of any degrees or awards. Employers want to know everything about
you and omitting any of the above could keep you out of an applicant
pool, especially if the other job-seekers are predominantly German.
When
applying for positions with a broader international scope, hiring
managers are forgiving as long as they can paint a fairly complete
picture of you and your past. Since it’s unlikely you can cobble
together a complete application package, find everything you can, make
copies and send it over – put only the details you feel comfortable
divulging on your CV. Once they’ve found the right candidate, employers
will send the package back to you. If you decide to go through a
recruitment agency, they’ll be able to help you figure out which
documents are vital and which are unnecessary. They will also be able to
say what your expected salary will be and discuss in detail any
additional benefits.
The Internet is a good place to look for jobs, for instance, at sites such as jobs.expatica.com/de, www.stepstone.dewww.jobpilot.de, www.monster.de, www.toytowngermany.com or www.craigslist.org. The pages of companies that have caught your eye can also prove useful. The Guardian’s job site (www.jobs.guardian.co.uk)
often has English-language jobs in Germany. Conferences and
professional associations can sometimes yield results but Germans
generally treat networking among anyone but their friends and immediate
colleagues as insincere.
If you are looking for a highly
qualified or academic job at a national level, you should consult the
Saturday edition of national papers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung, Suddeutsche Zeiting, Die Weld, Handelsblatt and Frankfurter
Rundshau. Job adverts are also available online under www.berlin-online.de and www.berliner-zeitung.de. Finally, take a look at www.ex-berliner.com, the website of the local expat magazine. And don't forget to check your embassy's website for any offerings.
EURES
Job in Germany
The
EURES network is a partnership between the employment services in the
EEA to support the free movement of workers. It facilitates the
circulation of vacancies and enables online access to up-to-date
information on living and working conditions in each EEA member state.
EURES staff specialise in the practical issues surrounding employment in
member states. They assist people who wish to work abroad and help
employers find suitable employees from other EEA countries.
Finding work before moving to Germany
Getting
a job before you arrive is the easiest way to smooth the rocky
transition to a foreign country. Employers may provide or pay for
accommodation in your first few
weeks, further easing the change and
colleagues provide instant friends for lonely expats. Gaining a job
without an in-person interview is not uncommon and human resources
departments in larger companies are familiar with and equipped to
interview candidates living elsewhere. The best resources are the
websites listed above, as well as any friends or relatives that might
have experience in Germany.
Because you’re applying from abroad,
your qualifications are even more vital and submitting a sub-par
application is a waste of everyone’s time, as email applications are
easier to toss. Take the time to provide all the documentation you can
and outline the reasons you would be perfect for the job in Germany – and worth the
hassle of hiring a foreigner.
Recruitment Agencies
German
companies have spent a lot of time and money in recent years reducing
their staffs and handing less key jobs to outsiders. This is often true
in hiring.
Anyone not at the top echelon of the workforce is
unlikely to find a job through a recruitment agency. German companies
are notoriously frugal and don’t want to spend on external agencies when
the country has a well-
established system of advertising and applying
for jobs. But headhunters are popular for executives or any high-level
position that might report directly to the board.
Still, there
are many recruitment agencies for computer-related, executive and
scientific jobs. Providing temporary workers is supposedly one of the
fastest-growing industries. If you find a recruitment company offering
the kinds of jobs you’re qualified for, they can also help you with the
transition and paperwork and let you know what your services are worth
on the German market.
Employment Contracts
The basis of Germany’s heavily regulated labour market is the contract, which is mandatory for any company offering a job in Germany
Under certain conditions, you may be offered a temporary contract (befristete Arbeitsvertrag)
for one or several years. Both your employer and you can choose not to
renew a limited contract and it can only be renewed once. After that, it
must be converted to an unbefristete Arbeitsvertag, an unlimited contract.
Either
contract will outline your basic responsibilities, pay, benefits and
working hours. Since much of German working life is regulated, most
contracts are similar and employers are not allowed to hide any illegal
clauses. The key details are your salary, benefits and vacation days.
The
contract can usually be terminated within two weeks during your
probationary period but will require at least 28 days notice afterwards.
Because of quirks in German law that require notice on the 14th or the
last day of any month, the 28 days are likely to be longer than 28
actual days. However, you may negotiate the notice period as part of
your contract. Most German companies require three months’ notice –
executives often have to give six months to a year.
Labour law
Perhaps
one of the biggest German urban myths is that once you’ve been granted
an unlimited employment contract, it’s almost impossible to be fired or
laid off. This simply isn’t true. There is no set process for being
fired but if employers have a real reason (known in German as
wichtigem Grund)
for wanting to get rid of you – embezzlement, incompetence or
insubordination for example – they can. The law also permits lay-offs in
order to
keep companies on the brink afloat.
job in Germany..
On the other hand,
large German corporations will have a works council made up of employees
that must approve all new recruitment, layoffs and firings.
They
will be your first
recourse in any dispute with your employer. Should
you find yourself without a job, Germany has a special labour court to
settle disputes. However, don’t expect any massive cash settlements. If
you win a case, the court will award you back-pay and force your former
employer to give you your job back.
The best place to get assistance navigating Germany’s dense labour laws
would be any
professional association related to your job, if you have
one. If not, the German labour office, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit
(01801 555 111) could help. However, it’s staffed by bureaucrats who
will shuffle you around for days if not weeks.
In reality,
without the help of a professional organisation or union, the best place
to go for advice is a lawyer. German labour regulations have been
tested by years of actual cases and labour lawyers are up to date on all
the latest dos and don’ts. The fee may be painful at first, but is
really an investment in your future.
There is also The Legal Guide to Germany, which can be found at www.lg2g.info/.
The website is billed as “Expats’ Concise Guide to Officialdom in
Germany.” The project attempts to help expats either living or coming to
Germany to get a reliable orientation of their everyday legal rights
and responsibilities in Germany. The
portal offers a platform for legal
content, newsletters on topics of everyday concern to foreigners in
Germany and eLiterature for professional needs.
Job in Germany...
