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About Us

How to Discover a Job In Berlin

Greg is the co-founder of GermanTechJobs.de.

This guide assists you find a job in Berlin, from discovering job listings to your first day at work.

On this page

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

Can you work in Germany?

If you are not a person of the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you require a house permit to work in Germany. You can get a work visa or a Blue Card, for example. There might be a minimum income or education requirement.

Do you need to speak German?

No, but it assists. You can discover English-speaking jobs, however most business desire German speakers.

If you don’t speak German, you can still discover jobs in …

Tech companies
– Companies with English-speaking workplaces
– Delivery services like Lieferando, Wolt and Flink
– Customer support 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 find a task quickly, the hiring procedure is extremely slow.

Know how much you need to earn, and just how much taxes you should pay. This helps you work out a much better income.

Calculate your income tax

1. Search for job jobs

General task search

Indeed.com – Job online search engine. You can filter by language and set alerts.
LinkedIn – Networking website with a huge jobs 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 website. Made in Berlin.
ArbeitNow – Job noting site. Made in Berlin.
Jobted
Xing – Similar to LinkedIn. You can’t filter by language.
Company reviews, wage reports and job listings. You require an account.

English-speaking jobs

These sites just have English-speaking jobs, or job let you filter by language:

Berlin Startup Jobs – Most tasks are in English-speaking workplaces
Englishjobs.de – Only English-speaking tasks
JobsInBerlin.eu – You can filter tasks by language
Germany Startup Jobs – You can filter tasks 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 jobs in Berlin – Facebook group, 43,000+ members

Tech jobs

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

Creative jobs: media, communications, style

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

Startup tasks

Berlin Startup Jobs – English-speaking tasks in start-ups and tech business
Startup Sucht (in German).
tbd * job board (in German) – tbd * is a site for job business owners. You can filter by language.
Wellfound – International startup job portal.
Germany Startup Jobs – You can filter tasks by language and income.
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 company.
Manpower (in German) – Large temp work firm.
Randstad (in German) – Large temp work agency.
Craigslist – Most job 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. Apply for 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 picture studio and get an expert picture 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 structure.
Resume checklist – Imagine foundation.
Lingoking – Translate your resume to German

Cover letters

Include a short cover letter (Anschreiben) with your application. It’s an individual introduction. It describes who you are, what you do, why you apply for this job, and why they need to employ you.

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

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

3. The task interview

In Germany, the interview process is very long. It can take a couple of weeks, and even a few months. You may have multiple interviews with different individuals. It depends on the company and the job. You need a lot of time for this.

The phone screen

The interview process begins with a short call. An employer or working with manager will ask you a few concerns. They will attempt to understand who you are, what you desire, and how you fit the job offer. It’s a basic check before they welcome you for an interview.

How to prepare – Imagine Foundation

The technical interview

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

Technical interviews are different at every company. They might ask you technical questions, ask you to resolve an issue throughout the interview, or finish a technical challenge at home. Some business don’t have technical interviews.

Meet the team

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

4. The task deal

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

Salary settlement

After you get the job deal, you can negotiate a better income. You can also request for things like a relocation bonus offer or more trip days.

Salaries in Germany

The job contract

Read your job contract thoroughly. If your employer promised something to you throughout the interview, job confirm that it remains in your agreement. Only sign the contract if you agree with everything. Send the signed agreement by e-mail or by post.

If you are not exactly sure about your agreement, request for help or speak with an attorney.

5. Get a residence permit

If you are not a person of the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you need a house permit to reside in Germany. Sometimes, you must wait on your home permit to begin working. It can take a couple of months.

How to get a home license

If you currently have a residence permit, you may need the Ausländerbehörde’s approval to alter jobs. Sometimes, you can begin your new job instantly. Sometimes, you must wait for your brand-new residence permit. This can take a few weeks.

How to alter jobs

6. Start working

Things your employer needs

During your first month at a brand-new business, your employer requires a couple of things:

A bank account.
Your company will pay you by bank transfer. For this, you require a savings account that supports SEPA transfers. Any European bank account will work.
Your tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer).
You get a tax ID when you register your address for the 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 begin working. – More information.
Your health insurance number (Krankenversicherungsnummer).
You get a Krankenversicherungsnummer 2 to 7 days after you choose medical insurance. Your employer requires this number to take health insurance payments from your wage. Your employer can select health insurance coverage for you, but it’s a bad idea. Ask a broker to help you select, it’s totally free.
Your social insurance coverage number (Sozialversicherungsnummer).
If you have public health insurance coverage, you get this number automatically in the mail. If you have personal health insurance coverage, you should request it. Your employer can sometimes help you with this. – How to get a social insurance number

Your employer can’t need an address registration certificate.5

Things you need to understand

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

Most employees in Germany are paid by bank transfer once per month, on the very first day of the month.4 Your employer takes wage tax, medical insurance, pension insurance and unemployment insurance from your income.

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 discover an apartment or condo, because you don’t have a steady job.

How does the probation duration work?

All staff members in Germany make money vacation days, and paid authorized leave. You do not deal with public holidays, but you still get paid.

How to take getaways

What to do when you are ill

7. Make a tax declaration

Much of your job search costs are tax-deductible:3

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

If you began operating in the middle of the year, you most likely paid too much wage tax. Make a tax statement to lower your earnings tax, and get some cash back.

Need help?

Where to get assist about work

Career coaching

These individuals can assist you get worked with. For example, they can review your resume and cover letter. Their fee is tax-deductible.