OUR BLOG

Petra shares her experience finding a job in Germany in the following video. Watch it here.

Video transcription

Hi, I’m Petra. I’m a Finnish expat, living and working in Germany. I work as a senior localization specialist, so my daily bread comes out of language. So far, I’ve lived in Germany three years, and I think there are many years to come.

What brought me to Germany

So I came to Germany quite spontaneously. I had planned to stay here for a month and see how does it feel. I kind of didn’t have a plan to apply for a job and then I realized “Why not”, people need to do something.

My experience searching for a job in Germany

Then I started to look for jobs that seemed quite easy to find, easier than I thought because everyone had told me before coming here if you don’t speak fluent German it’s never going to happen to you, there are no jobs available, just keep on dreaming. But the reality turned out to be totally different.

I found my first job through a Facebook group. I think that’s quite common or that it’s getting more common to find jobs from channels that were not used so much before, at least when I started to look for jobs at the beginning of my career. I think there are a lot of useful groups that you can join in. Also, see different job ad posting pages that are popping up everywhere.

My #1 tip for expat jobseekers in Germany

I think one good tip for finding jobs is to be active and have patience. I found out that things don’t work here necessarily so fast as back home, so it might take some time to get interviews or even meet people or the right people. Therefore, take your time and don’t be worried if you don’t hear back from the companies you have applied to. Luckily things are getting better here, so you can apply for jobs through the Internet. So you don’t have to send your CV’s or applications through the mail which is really nice.

What was really nice when I came here is that there is a really nice and tight Finnish community, in most of the bigger cities at least. Here in Berlin it’s really useful. You get to know people that have lived longer here who are very eager to help you and get you started.

I also did not leave my furry friend behind. So I moved here with my cat and it wasn’t really difficult either. So if you’re thinking about like “well i have all these things, i have cats, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, kids, just bring them along. They will love you. “

And if you are looking for jobs, please check expatjobseeker.de

[ssba]