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MY GERMAN CAREER

INDIA

‘Germany has a very good work culture’

In the latest installment of My German Career, The Local spoke with Raja Ramesh Chilakala about working in Germany and how it's different from the work culture in India.

'Germany has a very good work culture'
Photo: Private

Raja Ramesh Chilakala is a 35-year-old Indian who went home after doing a master’s degree in Germany and returned some years later for a job. He works at a sealing solutions company in Stuttgart after having lived and worked in cities like Hamburg, Cologne and Aschaffenburg.

When did you first come to Germany?

I first came here in September 2001 to pursue a master’s degree in Automotive Systems Engineering in RWTH in Aachen. I left for India after I got my degree and work brought me here again in 2007.

What exactly does your job involve?

I’m a mechanical engineer and I’m involved in the development of sealing products which are used in hydraulic cylinders. I work at Trelleborg, a sealing solutions company.

How did you get this job?

After my studies I went back to India in 2005. I worked in John Deere and in 2007 I got an opportunity from a German engineering consulting company after they saw my resume on one of the job portals. After a telephone interview, I got a job as an engineering consultant with Ford and came back to Germany in 2007 with my wife and our year-and-a-half-old son. I have been doing my current job in Stuttgart since January 2012.

Why did you choose Germany?

For the field of mechanical engineering, Germany is one the best places. Moreover, you have free education and the student jobs as a research assistant are also great.

Did you see a lot of changes from the time you left Germany to when you came back?

The major difference I observe is that it’s easier to get a work permit now. Most of my Indian friends who studied with me went to the US or back to India. Less than 20 percent of them have stayed on in Germany. It was hard for a foreigner to get a job here between 2004-2005 because of the work permit restrictions. But these days, more or less everyone who does a master’s degree in Germany gets a job here.

Do you and your family speak German?

Yes, now I do. My wife did the B1 level integration course, so she speaks German too. As for my son, he attends a German school.

How important is it for someone in your position and in general to speak German in professional life?

German is very important, especially if you want to grow and achieve higher positions. You definitely need very good German skills and people appreciate it if you speak their language. I would encourage people in the same position to learn German.

Do you need to speak a lot of German at work?

At my workplace, it’s a mix of languages. We have an international team here so I speak in German whenever required. Some of my colleagues don’t speak English, so I speak German with them as well.

Have you faced any issues being a foreigner in your professional life?

There are usually no issues at the workplace. I feel that Germans are really good. I was cheated out of some money by an old German lady who was my house owner once, but I know cheaters are everywhere. Most Germans are really honest.

Have you seen any cultural differences in the way of working in India and here?

I have mostly worked in multinational companies, so the working culture is more or less the same everywhere, but there are some differences. For example, in Germany, you usually don’t talk about your private life with your colleagues, which is not the case in India. But if you ask for any kind of personal help, they will definitely help you out.

What do you like about working in Germany?

Here, people encourage you if you have talent. In India, in some places, you have to praise the manager to get ahead.

Is there a bad aspect to working in Germany?

No. Germany has a very good work culture. I love working here.

Will you be settling in Germany?

I’m not completely sure. I have an unlimited residence permit but I haven’t yet decided how long I’m going to be here for. I have to take my family into account and then take a decision.

Want your German career featured on The Local? Contact us at: [email protected]

Interview conducted by Mithila Borker.

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INDIA

Travel: Spain imposes mandatory quarantine on arrivals from India over virus strain fears

Spain will make all travellers arriving from India undergo a 10-day quarantine to prevent the potential spread of the Asian country’s coronavirus variant within the Spanish territory.

Travel: Spain imposes mandatory quarantine on arrivals from India over virus strain fears
Photo: JACK GUEZ/AFP

Spanish government spokesperson María Jesús Montero made the announcement on Tuesday, explaining that as there are no direct flights between Spain and India, it isn’t possible for Spain to adopt measures such as banning arrivals outright as other European countries have done.

The quarantine requirement for travellers arriving to Spain from India starts on May 1st 2021.

India joins a number of South American and African nations that are already on Spain’s quarantine list to stem the spread of the Brazilian and South African variants. 

According to the Spanish government’s website, those “coming from the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of South Africa, Republic of Botswana, Union of Comoros, Republic of Ghana, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe, Republic of Peru and Republic of Colombia, must remain in quarantine for 10 days after their arrival in Spain, or for the duration of their stay if it is shorter than that. This period may end earlier, if on the seventh day the person is tested for acute infection with negative results.”

India is currently battling a record-breaking rise in Covid-19 infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and led to severe bed and oxygen shortages.

A key question is whether a new variant with potentially worrying mutations – B.1.617 – is behind what is currently the world’s fastest-growing outbreak, setting four records in a row for the highest daily coronavirus infections by one country, the latest on Sunday with 349,691 new cases.

The country has also been recording around 3,000 deaths per day from Covid-19. 

Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands have all imposed restrictions or travel bans on arrivals from India in recent days.

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“No cases of the Indian variant have been detected to date to my knowledge,” Spain’s Emergencies Coordinator Chief Fernando Simón told journalists on Monday. 

“The intel does not indicate that we have to worry about it,” he added, given that the UK variant now makes up 94 percent of all infections in Spain. 

“We cannot rule out that a case (of the Indian variant) may be detected”, Simón admitted, but “so far it is not a variant of concern, it is a variant of interest”.

Patients breath with the help of oxygen masks inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid-19 coronavirus ward in New Delhi on April 27th, 2021. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)

That is not a view shared by Amós José García Rojas , president of the Spanish Association of Vaccinations (AEV), who argues “we have to worry a lot” about the “chaos” that this new variant is leaving in the Asian country and why it could affect the spread of this strain of the virus.

“This new variant is fundamentally worrying because of what it is causing in India,” Rojas told medical publication Redacción Médica. 

“It shows that as there are territories where people are largely not vaccinated, there’s many people who are susceptible to the virus and it creates a breeding ground for the development of new variants”.

“We cannot vaccinate comprehensively in some countries and forget about other countries at the mercy of God.

“We have to worry about everyone because there is a risk that situations like the one seen in India will happen again. 

So far, the B.1.617 variant has been categorised by the World Health Organisation as a “variant of interest”.

Other variants detected in Brazil, South Africa and the UK have been categorised as “of concern”, because they are more transmissible, virulent or might reduce antibody efficacy.

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