How to find a job in Germany

For all those who asked to describe how to look for work as a programmer in Germany, as well as for those who wrote in the comments without proof that Germany is far from the best place to work, well, for all those interested, this post was written.

How to come to Germany to study has already been written many times. A simple search in the Habré finds many articles that accurately describe the whole process and possible pitfalls. Here is just a small list:



And uncle Google will tell you if you ask him. By the way, in Germany he is somehow Aunt Google. Hussars, keep quiet! :)

So why do you need one hundred thousand five hundredth post about the same thing? The question is logical. I will try to describe life in Germany from a different point of view - finding a job as a programmer, and also present a few numbers.

Everything described here is a purely personal point of view and does not purport to be complete, accurate or objective information.

Why Germany

There are not enough programmers in Germany .

In principle, this says little, because programmers are not enough everywhere. On the hub, we also discussed many times how long this bubble will last and what to do when it bursts.

You can endlessly list the positive factors of this particular country, but in the end, everyone decides for himself. There are enough problems here, they are just different.

Despite the great demand for programmers, it took me almost a month to find a job after university, and I sent out about 20 resumes. This is due to many factors: poorly composed ads, from which it is not clear who exactly they are looking for, excessive requirements and my mistakes in compiling a resume. Even if you are a high-class specialist with experience and knowledge of languages, it may take a lot of time before they answer you and invite you to a telephone or immediately face-to-face interview.

Where to begin

So, you decided to look for work in Germany. Where to begin? You need to decide what exactly to look for, otherwise you can literally drown in a sea of ​​information. Then create a resume and biography - Lebenslauf. Mandatory photo. Good photo - a half smile will be just right. By the way, almost all of our compatriots suffer too serious faces.

It does not hurt to see bluecard-eu.de .

Then registration on specialized sites. The largest exchange in Germany is monster.de . You can also subscribe to the list of suitable offers there. The very famous linkedin.com is not in great demand here, but just in case, you can also search on it.

Personally, I have the largest number of offers coming from xing.com/en .

And now the captain style tips.

Telephone interview

English here is very good for everyone associated with computer science, so you can communicate in English, especially in 99% of ads. Although knowledge of German, even at an intermediate level, will be a big plus and will expand the circle of potential employers.

In-person interview

As they say, the first impression can be made only once. Therefore, it is important not to be late; the Germans have everything planned out in minutes. I have not met problems about hatches or tricky tests, they like to talk about specific experiences in interviews. It seems to me that a business suit will only be in place at the bank or if it is intended to work with clients.

Figures

Well, where and how to look - more or less clear, but what about the salary? What number can be indicated? After all, this is the most interesting, we will not be a prude ... prudes ... prudes ...

There is a slight hitch. The topic of salaries for the Germans is almost a taboo. I exaggerate of course, but I have the impression that it’s easier for a German to ask how often he has sex with his wife than what his salary is. Moreover, no one has a thought to speak with colleagues about it.

Despite this, German forums are full of questions like “What salary to ask for an interview”. And the answers to them vary depending on the land, work experience, basic technology and ... In general - depending on everything.

To help us is statistics. There are no secrets here, all information is available on the network. I will only present it in Russian and in a compressed form. Who knows German, you can immediately download a report .

The essence of the report is as follows: every year the StepStone website conducts a survey among 40,000 workers, employees and management of various industries, including IT and areas related to them.

In short - the statistics are not too surprising: in general, salaries are higher in the western part of Germany. Not the last role is played by education and, of course, work experience. You can say the average salary fork of IT majors is from 35,000 € to 60,000 € per year. Of course, juniors starting to work in a small company as an administrator can get € 29,000, and senior men with rich experience somewhere in a bank or car industry can earn all € 80,000.

Taxes

I will not concern citizenship issues. They too were described enough on a habr.

I must say that in Germany it is customary to indicate the gross salary, that is, the amount from which taxes have not yet been deducted and the net salary after deduction is often much lower, this must be remembered.

Income tax in Germany is calculated depending on the class . Often, it is enough to roughly estimate the deductions in order to have an idea of ​​how much will turn out in the end or to use one of the many calculators, for example .

In addition to income tax, there are other mandatory deductions: to the pension fund, health insurance, etc. To have a small idea of ​​what approximately the amount will remain after taxes, here are a couple of examples:

Conclusion

Of course you cannot embrace the immensity. I deliberately left a lot of information outside the scope of the article in order to focus on the main points. In addition, I will be happy to answer all questions.

I hope it did not turn out too messy and useful information can be caught from the text.
Good luck to all!