Germany has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU at just 6.4 percent (www.destatis.de December 2014) and in some parts of southern Germany, such as Bavaria (where you’ll find Munich), the unemployment rate is significantly lower. A study by the German Federal Institution for Population Research showed that a third of non-EU migrants in Germany in 2010/111 found work within 12 months. If you are well qualified – with a university degree or a vocational qualification such as an apprenticeship – and have work experience and a basic knowledge of German, then you have a good chance of finding employment in Germany, where such qualities are valued.
Whether you are still in your home country or already in Germany, the best way to start looking for a job is over the Internet. One place to find vacancies in Germany is on the Internet pages of the following government institutions:
- Federal Employment Agency: Germany’s largest official job portal belongs to the Federal Employment Agency (BA). One of its tasks is to support job-hunters in Germany and abroad in their search for suitable job offers. On the BA Web site, you can do targeted searches for vacant jobs. The search engine is available in German, English and French. However, for the moment most of the job offers are in German only.
You will find many of the jobs which are posted on the Federal Employment Agency portal also on the “Make it in Germany” job exchange. Here, you can do targeted searches in professions where Germany lacks qualified professionals.
- “Hotline to Working and Living in Germany”:
Qualified professionals who have migrated or are interested in migrating to Germany are welcome to contact our hotline for advice in German or English. You can phone the hotline on +49 30 1815 – 1111. - EURES: The BA is also a member of the network of European employment agencies, which is called EURES. EURES is committed to promoting the mobility of job-seekers in Europe by providing advisory and job-finding services. EURES offers interesting job prospects and funding programmes. You can find out more about this from the EURES advisors in the respective countries.
The EURES Internet portal has job offers from 31 European countries – including Germany – information about living and working in the different countries and the contact details of the EURES advisors. The portal is available in 25 languages.
In addition, every spring and autumn EURES organises European Job Days in a large number of European countries, at which vacancies in Germany are also presented. You can find the dates of these events by asking the EURES advisors of the respective countries, or by consulting the EURES Web site or Facebook pages. - Job portals: Many German companies advertise their vacancies not only through official agencies, but also publish them on the Internet. Take a look at the well-known job portals (German keyword: Jobportal) and on social networking sites. Otherwise, search for companies in Germany which are most likely to offer jobs in your line of work. Many of these companies offer vacancies on their own Web sites. The job sections are usually called “Stellenangebote”, “Karriere” or “Vakanzen”.
The information above comes from my own personal experiences and stories told to me by other expats working here, so I’m willing to bet that not everything here is 100% accurate nor applies to everyone looking for work. Also, the above is just concentrating on people coming here to work and not those that want to or have studied here or those that come as ‘trailing spouses’ or have married German citizens and are looking for work. You guys are in a whole different category that I readily admit that I don’t really understand. The best way to determine if you are eligible to work in Germany and how easily you can find a job is to contract the German Embassy in your home country. Those guys are the real experts and should be your ultimate source of knowledge. What I’ve written above is just to give you an idea of what your chances are to find work in Germany.