Requirements for Working in Germany

 

What are the basic requirements for working in Germany? What do you need to start your own business?

 

Checklist for working in Germany

Residence permit

Non-EU citizens cannot work in Germany without a residence permit from the German government, so you should first check whether you’d even qualify for one.

Additional information:

Qualifications

Broadly speaking, German employers look for employees with a specific qualification for the job they are being hired. Hiring someone with only a high school diploma (or a generic university degree) and “training them up” on the job isn’t a thing in Germany. Instead, once Germans finish their secondary schooling, they almost always go on to some form of tertiary education to prepare them for working, such as a university degree or a vocational qualification.

Jobs which are done by unqualified workers in other countries are generally done by people with the appropriate vocational qualification (e.g. Ausbildung) in Germany. There is a vocational qualification for just about every non-academic job, from bank teller to dental technician.

Therefore, you should know that if you don’t have the appropriate vocational qualification or university degree, the chances of being hired are fairly low. Additionally, having a matching qualification is usually a precondition for getting a residence permit.

Language

Around 98% of all jobs in Germany require fluent German, and employer won’t give candidates who don’t speak fluent German a second look. It’s just not worth the hassle to hire someone who can’t communicate with colleagues, clients, or suppliers.

There are, however, a few notable exceptions; some industries and types of work are done entirely in English. The most notable include:

  • IT
  • Some kinds of engineering work
  • Some kinds of finance work
  • Scientific research
  • Some kinds of menial, minimum-wage work

Note that even in these fields, the majority of jobs are in German, but there is at least a substantial minority of jobs where you can work entirely in English. That’s not to say that German wouldn’t be an advantage - workers who only speak English are somewhat constrained in their career progression, and can’t take on certain roles (e.g. even if an engineering company works mostly with international clients in English, any manufacturing work in Germany would be in German, so a non-German speaking engineer couldn’t do any work with an interface to the local manufacturing activities).

Some kinds of menial, minimum-wage work can be done without speaking German, as it barely involves any contact with other people - examples include washing dishes in restaurants, picking fruit on a farm, stacking boxes in supermarkets, etc.

There are a very small number of English-language jobs in other fields, but we’re talking on the order of magnitude of one in a thousand.

See this thread for more information.

##Freelancing / starting your own Business

Recognition of your Degree

Website Info
Anabin Check the recognition of your university studies (German only)
BAMF Getting your professional qualifications recognised
Marburger Bund FAQ for those pursuing a medical career.