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About Us

How to Discover a Task In Berlin

Greg is the co-founder of GermanTechJobs.de.

This guide assists you discover a job in Berlin, from finding job listings to your very first day at work.

On this page

1. Before your task search Can you work in Germany?
Do you need to speak German?
How long does it take to get worked with?
Salaries in Germany
General task search
English-speaking tasks
Tech jobs
Creative tasks: media, communications, design
Startup jobs
Internships, temp work and minijobs
Freelance work
Restaurant jobs
German resumes
Cover letters
The phone screen
The technical interview
Meet the group
Salary settlement
The task contract
Things your company needs
Things you should understand
Career training
Before your job search

Can you work in Germany?

If you are not a citizen of the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you need a home license to work in Germany. You can get a work visa or a Blue Card, job for instance. There may be a minimum income or education requirement.

Do you require to speak German?

No, but it assists. You can discover English-speaking tasks, however the majority of companies desire German speakers.

If you do not speak German, you can still discover tasks in …

Tech business
– Companies with English-speaking offices
– Delivery services like Lieferando, Wolt and Flink
– Client service and call centres
– Restaurants and bars

Do you need to speak German in Berlin?

The length of time does it take to get hired?

A couple of months. Even if you discover a task rapidly, the employing procedure is extremely slow.

Know how much you need to earn, and just how much taxes you need to pay. This assists you negotiate a better income.

Calculate your income tax

1. Try to find jobs

General job search

Indeed.com – Job search engine. You can filter by language and set notifies.
LinkedIn – Networking site with a huge tasks section. Popular.
Jobsuche der Bundesagentur (in German) – Run by the Agentur für Arbeit
Talent Berlin – Run by the state of Berlin. You can’t filter by language.
HeyJobs – Job noting site. Made in Berlin.
ArbeitNow – Job listing site. Made in Berlin.
Jobted
Xing – Similar to LinkedIn. You can’t filter by language.
Glassdoor – Company reviews, wage reports and job listings. You need an account.

English-speaking jobs

These sites only have English-speaking tasks, or let you filter by language:

Berlin Startup Jobs – Most jobs are in English-speaking workplaces
Englishjobs.de – Only English-speaking jobs
JobsInBerlin.eu – You can filter tasks by language
Germany Startup Jobs – You can filter jobs by language and wage
The Local tasks – Run by a popular English-speaking paper
Jobted
English-speaking tasks in Berlin – Facebook group, 89,000+ members
English tasks in Berlin – Facebook group, 43,000+ members

Tech jobs

GermanTechJobs – You can filter by language and innovation.
Berlin Startup Jobs – English-speaking jobs in startups and tech companies
Administrator/ Web Entickler/ Entwickler Jobs – German-speaking tech tasks
Imagine Foundation – They help software designers from establishing countries discover a task and get worked with

Creative jobs: media, interactions, style

dasauge (in German) – Media-related jobs
Mediengestalter Jobs (in German) – Creative jobs

Startup tasks

Berlin Startup Jobs – English-speaking tasks in start-ups and tech companies
Startup Sucht (in German).
tbd * job board (in German) – tbd * is a site for entrepreneurs. You can filter by language.
Wellfound – International start-up task portal.
Germany Startup Jobs – You can filter tasks by language and wage.
Berlin Startup Jobs – Facebook group, 56,000+ members.
Berlin Startup Jobs, Internships & Co-founders – Facebook group, 14,000+ members

Internships, temp work and minijobs

Zenjobs.
BSIG – Berlin Startup Internships – Facebook group, 10,000+ members.
Foreign Young Professionals in Berlin – Facebook group, 8,000+ members.
Jobsuche der Bundesagentur (in German) – Run by the Agentur für Arbeit. Has a filter for internships.
Adecco (in German) – Large temperature work agency.
Manpower (in German) – Large temperature work firm.
Randstad (in German) – Large temperature work agency.
Craigslist – Most task listings are for dining establishments and cafés

Freelance work

Berlin Freelancers – Facebook group, 25,000+ members

Restaurant jobs

Berlin Food Stories – Restaurant tasks in Berlin.
Huntler – English-speaking restaurant jobs in Berlin

2. Request jobs

German resumes

German CVs are longer than American resumes. They include your date of birth, your citizenship and a picture of you.1 You need to go to a photo studio and get an expert portrait for your resume. A career coach can help you compose a much better resume.

Useful links:

How to compose a German resume – HalloGermany.
German resume examples – Imagine foundation.
Resume list – Imagine foundation.
Lingoking – Translate your resume to German

Cover letters

Include a short cover letter (Anschreiben) with your application. It’s an individual intro. It describes who you are, what you do, why you request this task, and why they need to hire you.

Don’t send the same cover letter to everyone. Do your research study, and personalise the letter for each job offer. Keep it short and simple to check out. Get feedback from other individuals before you send it. A profession coach can help you compose better cover letters.

How to compose a German cover letter – HalloGermany.
Advice for cover letters with examples – Hacker News

3. The job interview

In Germany, the interview process is long. It can take a couple of weeks, and even a couple of months. You might have numerous interviews with various individuals. It depends on the business and the job. You need a lot of time for this.

The phone screen

The interview procedure begins with a short call. An employer or working with manager will ask you a couple of questions. They will try to comprehend who you are, what you want, and how you fit the task deal. It’s a basic check before they invite you for an interview.

How to prepare – Imagine Foundation

The technical interview

Most tech companies have technical interviews or coding difficulties. They confirm that you understand how to do your task.

Technical interviews are different at every business. They may ask you technical concerns, ask you to fix an issue throughout the interview, or complete a technical difficulty in the house. Some business don’t have technical interviews.

Meet the group

Most companies have a team interview. You fulfill your future group to see if you work well together. This interview is more unwinded. You might simply talk with the team, or have lunch together.

4. The task offer

After your interview, the business can make a task deal.

Salary negotiation

After you get the task offer, you can work out a much better salary. You can also request for things like a relocation perk or more holiday days.

Salaries in Germany

The job agreement

Read your task agreement carefully. If your employer assured something to you during the interview, confirm that it’s in your agreement. Only sign the contract if you agree with whatever. Send the signed agreement by e-mail or by post.

If you are not sure about your agreement, ask for assistance or speak with a lawyer.

5. Get a residence license

If you are not a resident of the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you need a home permit to live in Germany. Sometimes, you must await your house authorization to begin working. It can take a couple of months.

How to get a residence authorization

If you already have a house license, you may need the Ausländerbehörde’s consent to change jobs. Sometimes, you can begin your new task instantly. Sometimes, you need to wait for your brand-new residence authorization. This can take a few weeks.

How to change tasks

6. Start working

Things your employer requires

During your very first month at a brand-new business, your employer needs a few things:

A savings account.
Your company will pay you by bank transfer. For this, you require a savings account that supports SEPA transfers. Any European checking account will work.
Your tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer).
You get a tax ID when you register your address for the very first time. If you can’t register your address, you can still get a tax ID. If you can’t get a tax ID, you can still start working. – More details.
Your medical insurance number (Krankenversicherungsnummer).
You get a Krankenversicherungsnummer 2 to 7 days after you select medical insurance. Your company requires this number to take medical insurance payments from your salary. Your employer can pick health insurance coverage for you, but it’s a bad concept. Ask a broker to assist you pick, it’s totally free.
Your social insurance number (Sozialversicherungsnummer).
If you have public health insurance, you get this number automatically in the mail. If you have personal health insurance, you need to obtain it. Your employer can sometimes assist you with this. – How to get a social insurance number

Your company can’t require an address registration certificate.5

Things you need to know

In Germany, the majority of people are paid as soon as each month, usually on the 1st or 15th day of the month. You get your very first paycheck after 30 or 45 days after you begin working. You typically make money by bank transfer.

Most employees in Germany are paid by bank transfer when monthly, on the first day of the month.4 Your company takes wage tax, medical insurance, pension insurance coverage and unemployment insurance coverage from your paycheck.

Income tax calculator

How taxes work

During your first 6 months at a new business, you are in your probation duration (Probezeit). 2 During that time, it’s easier to get fired. It’s also harder to find a house, since you do not have a stable task.

How does the probation period work?

All workers in Germany get paid holiday days, and paid authorized leave. You don’t deal with public holidays, however you still get paid.

How to take holidays

What to do when you are ill

7. Make a tax declaration

A lot of your task search costs are tax-deductible:3

Relocation costs
If you move closer to your brand-new task, you can deduct your moving expenses
Job search expenses
Coaching, resume writing, expert pictures, translations, printing expenses, task search services …
Travel costs.
Fuel, train tickets, hotels, meals and parking charges to go to job interviews.

If you started operating in the middle of the year, you most likely paid too much . Make a tax statement to decrease your income tax, and get some refund.

Need assistance?

Where to get assist about work

Career training

These individuals can assist you get hired. For instance, they can examine your resume and cover letter. Their fee is tax-deductible.