How to find Jobs in Germany as a foreigner?

Finding jobs in Germany as a foreigner is one of the toughest tasks especially if you are not in Germany and do not speak German.

Whether you are in Germany or a country like India, Pakistan, or the US, it is important to understand the best ways to apply for jobs in Germany as a foreigner.

In this guide, I will walk you through the steps I followed to find a job in Germany with no knowledge of the German language.

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Looking for English-speaking jobs in Germany for foreigners? Read this post instead.

Let’s get started with the steps:

Step 1: Identify the right job platform

It is very important that you identify the right platform to start your job search.

This will ensure that all your efforts are channeled in one direction and on one or a maximum of two job platforms.

My recommendation is LinkedIn. You can also have a look at all the other job platforms recommended by our GIC community members.

Note: If you are a GIC+ member, you will have access to 100s of visa sponsored jobs updated on a daily basis. To gain access to these jobs, subscribe to the GIC+ lifetime membership here.

One of the main criteria while identifying the best job platform is to look at the number of jobs posted each day and the quality of these job posts.

Also, jobs posted on LinkedIn are usually in English and are intended for international audiences.

On the other hand, platforms like Xing are mainly focused on the German audience.

Another reason why I prefer LinkedIn over other job search platforms is because of the search filters.

You can easily narrow down your job search and focus only on the relevant jobs using these filters.

I will walk you through the exact steps of performing a search on LinkedIn, using the filters, and narrowing down your search to best match your requirements in the next steps.

Step 2: Identify the right keyword

It goes without saying that you should search for the right keyword when you are looking for a job on a platform like LinkedIn.

How would you ensure that the keywords you are using are the perfect ones?

Let me help you here.

Let’s take the example of a Python developer who is looking for a job in Germany from India.

What should he search for on LinkedIn?

Here are some of the example keywords for this scenario:

  • Python developer
  • Python
  • Python engineer
  • Senior python developer
  • Junior python developer
  • Python team lead

These are some of the keywords that you can use when it comes to skills like Python.

What happens when you want to search for a job role and not a skill?

Let’s take another example of a project manager who is willing to move to Germany from India.

Some of the keywords he should use while searching are:

  • Project manager
  • Junior project manager
  • Senior project manager

In this example, you are searching for a job role and not a particular skill.

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So, before you start with the job search, make sure that you have identified all the relevant keywords for your role, skills, etc, and make a note of it.

Tip: You can use our free CV analysis tool that can help you identify different roles that you can apply for in Germany.

Let’s jump to the next step which is to perform the job search on LinkedIn.

Step 3: Search for jobs in Germany for foreigners

There are several sub-steps to this one. Let’s go through them one by one.

3.1: Perform a simple job search on LinkedIn

Start with the simple approach by visiting the LinkedIn job search page.

Enter the keyword that we identified in the previous step. Use one keyword at a time.

Switch to the locations field and enter/select Germany.

Note: You may also enter a city instead of a country. E.g: You can select Berlin instead of Germany to narrow your job search and limit it to just Berlin.

Once you do the above, you will see that LinkedIn gives back a list of results that match your search query (keyword).

3.2: Narrow the search by using filters

Now that you have a list of over 100 jobs that match your keyword, it is time to filter them further.

Let’s first look at the various filters available on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn job search filter
  1. Jobs: This is the default selection when we are searching for jobs. This should not be changed in our case.
  2. Date Posted: This is a very effective filter and very useful too. We will see how we can use this filter to our benefit and find Jobs in Germany for foreigners.
  3. Experience level: I usually avoid using this filter so that I don’t miss out on any relevant opportunity just because it doesn’t fall in the right experience level.
  4. Company: This filter is very useful if you want to have a visa sponsorship. We will get to this at a later stage in this post.
  5. Job Type: I believe you would be interested mainly in a Full-time job. So, we will keep that as the default selection for our job search.
  6. On-Site/Remote: As long as you do not have a strict preference here, you should ideally leave this blank.
  7. Easy Apply: I will keep this unchecked as well to ensure that all the relevant jobs are listed.
  8. All Filters: Inside this, you will find all the filters we talked about and some additional filters. I would suggest not making any changes here.

When you are just starting your job search, I would suggest keeping the “Date Posted” filter as “Past week”.

LinkedIn Date Posted filter options

If you select “Past Month”, you will see all the jobs that were posted in the last 30 days or so.

This won’t be ideal mainly because the older jobs will probably have 100s of applicants already.

They might have progressed to the last rounds of interviews in these companies and your chance of getting these jobs is very low.

So, it’s better to focus on the most recently posted jobs. I.e “Past week”.

Note: Once you apply to all the jobs that were posted in the past week, I would suggest to change the filter to “Past 24 hours” and apply to jobs on a daily basis at the same time everyday.

The next filter I would suggest you use is the “Company” filter.

Using the Company filter on LinkedIn

You can effectively use this filter if you have a list of companies that are known for visa sponsorship.

Some examples are Delivery Hero, Zalando, etc.

If you are a GIC+ member, you will gain access to visa-sponsored jobs in Europe.

Step 4: Apply to relevant search results

Now that you have filtered the search results, it’s time to apply for the jobs.

At this stage, I usually recommend applying for all the job results.

As a foreigner, your highest priority is to get the first round of interviews scheduled with a few companies.

If you are not eligible for a particular job, the ATS or the HR reviewing the application will send you a rejected email.

Make sure that you customize your application and cover letter to match the job requirements.

Note: Never get disappointed when you get rejection emails. This is part of the job search journey in Germany.

Step 5: Upskill and repeat

Make a daily goal of reading a relevant article, book, blog post, or watching a video related to your domain.

This habit of daily upskilling yourself is very important to stay relevant in the ever-changing world of technology.

One of the ways I did it in the past was to subscribe to the monthly LinkedIn premium subscription.

You will gain access to the LinkedIn learning platform and several job insights as part of the premium subscription.

When you upskill and repeat the job application process every day, you will benefit from the compounding effect.

How to repeat the job search process on LinkedIn?

As mentioned earlier, repeat the job search each day and apply to all the jobs in the search results.

You can also save your job search as an alert on LinkedIn.

Saving the job search as an alert has two main benefits:

  1. It sends out an email with a daily summary of the job search results. You will be reminded every day.
  2. It saves your search query and filters for future use. You don’t have to set the filters every time.

Once you start following the steps mentioned above and continue it for a week, you will start hearing back from the employers.

Most of the time it will be negative news but very few of them will be positive.

In those positive emails, they will request you to share your availability for the first round of interviews.

Conclusion

Getting a job in Germany as a foreigner is not an easy task.

At the same time, it is not impossible either.

Several GIC members found a job in Germany from India in the last 6 months.

If you have the right mindset, dedication, and focus, you can get there pretty soon.

Finally, the steps I mentioned above are the ones that I followed during my job search phase.

It might work for some but may not work for others.

My suggestion would be to give this a try and optimize it over time. You will finally get your dream job in Germany as a Foreigner.

Good luck!

Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways we can help you with your job search in Germany

1. The GIC Community: We built an active discord community of thousands of professionals who are searching for a job in Germany or moved to Germany and are helping others to make their move. Join the community and learn from others.

2. The GIC+ Membership: This premium membership grants you additional privileges to speed up your job search in Germany. Some of the benefits of joining the premium tier include weekly meet-ups, access to visa-sponsored jobs, access to the job search planner tool, and more.

3. The Job Search Support Service: We have partnered with Senior HRs and Recruiters from Germany who will help you customize your profile to meet the requirements of the German job market. This is different from what is offered by the traditional international job consultancies.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for general informational purposes only. We strongly advise readers to conduct their due diligence or consult with a professional legal or immigration consultant before taking any action based on the content of this post. "Germany Is Calling" or the author of this post does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or applicability of the information provided.

2 thoughts on “How to find Jobs in Germany as a foreigner?”

  1. Hi
    Monali here
    Right now I am in Berlin but for me it’s difficult to find job
    I don’t understand where I am lacking.
    I have experienc in non technical MNS
    Also I know German language
    Still I am getting failure.
    Regards
    Monali

  2. Hi Monali

    There could be multiple reasons why you are unable to crack a job in Berlin.

    1. The current situation in Germany (inflation and recession) is not very favorable when it comes to job hunting.

    2. Companies are running out of funds. So, hiring is frozen in many companies and startups.

    I would suggest you join our Discord community and stay connected with our other members. You will gain several insights about the job market and other information relevant to your job search. Here is a link to join the discord community – https://discord.gg/g4Xt53bGcx

    I hope this helps.
    Good luck!

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