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How to reach out to German employers on LinkedIn or Xing

German career coach Chris Pyak shares his top tips for connecting with potential employers online - beyond just pressing a button.

Published: 16 September 2019 16:11 CEST
How to reach out to German employers on LinkedIn or Xing
Photo: Depositphotos/Y-Boychenko

One in five “international hires” in Germany believes that making friends is easy here. Sixty percent disagree. We Germans don’t open up easily.

In today's column I share my favourite tips on how to break the ice – at least in a professional setting.

Clever connections

This is the holy grail for your job search. Managers know what really goes on in the company. They know about new positions opening up, long before they are advertised.

READ ALSO: Working in Germany: Three tricks to impressing managers

Finally they can do more for your career with one recommendation to an old friend than you can achieve through sending out a hundred application letters.

Photo: DPA

The job websites LinkedIn and Xing make it easier than ever to find the manager behind a job offer. But many professionals don’t use these tools effectively. They take a “mechanical” view on connections, when they are in reality all about respect and real human interaction.

I have reached out to more than 2000 managers on behalf of my coaching clients since 2013. One out of three will connect with me within 14 days or less. The reason? Respect.

In many cultures the first contact is easy. In the Anglo-American world, for example, many will not hesitate to add just about everyone to their social network.

Breaking the shell

We Germans have a different view on new relationships. Some compare us to a coconut: No, not hairy and brown. Hard on the outside, but if you get past the shell, we are quite sweet.

How do you break through the German shell?

Let me use myself as an example, since I receive hundreds of contact requests: At this moment there about 160 people who sent a contact request who will never hear back from me.

They reached out with the bare minimum effort: A contact request without any sort of message.

If they care so little about a possible connection with me, then why should I care about them?

Every day there are also people who reach out to me with a short message. They take the time to write to me about their needs. I will not connect with them, but I always take the time to write them a short answer.

And then there are those that really “click”. They clearly took the time to learn a little bit about me and it shows in their messages. They talk about something that connects us. And they give me a clear idea why they reach out to me.

(I will still not connect right away, but I will engage in the conversation and that might lead to a common project along the way.)

The details matter

Germans will invest time in you if you are investing time in them. A column is a way to short to explain how to best reach out to German managers in all details (and the details matter). Especially if you want to reach the managers behind a job offer that you are interested in.

But here are two short video clips that can give you a better idea.


And for those of you who really want to make this work: Join my Expats Job Offer Miracle or take the more affordable “Meet Your Future Boss” course. These months until Christmas are the time when employers hire more than in all the rest of the year combined.

READ ALSO: A few months till Christmas – and why this matters for finding a job in Germany

ABOUT CHRIS PYAK

Chris Pyak is the Author of “How To Win Jobs & Influence Germans“. The managing director of Immigrant Spirit GmbH has worked in four different cultures and lived in five different countries.

Chris returned to Germany in 2011. His mission: Bring the Immigrant Spirit to his home country. Chris introduces international professionals to employers in Germany.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Five things to know about salaries in Germany

Finding a job is typically a top priority when planning a move to Germany. The country boasts the third largest economy in the world and a continuing need for skilled professionals. 

Published: 2 May 2024 12:26 CEST
Five things to know about salaries in Germany

If you are moving to Germany, you might soon start looking for a job in the country. However, like many other aspects of living abroad, there are several cultural differences and specificities when it comes to job hunting in Germany – especially when it comes to salaries.

Here are five things to know about salaries in Germany.

There is a minimum wage in Germany

Germany’s minimum wage of €12.41 per hour, pre-tax came into effect at the start of this year. This amounts to a monthly salary of €2,054 which ranks ninth in the world. The minimum wage will rise again in 2025 to €12.82 per hour before tax deductions.

There have been calls recently to hike the salary up higher to €14 per hour.

READ ALSO: Millions of workers in Germany ‘earning less than €14 per hour’

Find out salary expectations

Germany does not require companies to list salary ranges for listed positions. But that may be changing soon. The EU parliament passed a wage transparency law to require companies to publish annual reports detailing wage and wage discrepancy information. The rules, which are set to go into effect in 2027, are intended to help close the gender pay gap. 

In the meantime, employees can utilise online resources to find industry averages and expectations for different roles:

  • Gehalt.de offers users access to salary information on more than 800 professions
  • Online platform, Kununu provides compensation information and employer reviews to users in the DACH region  
  • Berlin residents can utilise REDSOFA’s salary survey for an overview of salary averages in the country’s capital city

As of April 2023 the average gross monthly salary was €4,323 according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.

Two-thirds of full time workers make less than this average monthly salary and one-third of workers earn more than this average monthly salary.

While wages after deductions may be less than similar roles in other countries, it is also important to take into consideration what other benefits come with a salary. Paid holiday leave, pension contributions, long notice periods and annual bonuses can help make up some of that difference. 

READ ALSO: How much do employees in Germany typically earn?

Check your payment schedule

Internationals can usually expect their salary once a month when working in Germany. Many German companies choose to pay employees either on the 1st or 15th of the month. It is also important to note that most employees can expect to receive their first pay check within 30 or 45 days of starting. 

For positions that offer yearly bonuses, these payments are included in a 13th pay check which are subject to income tax.  

A person works on a laptop.

A person works on a laptop. Image by Bartek Zakrzewski from Pixabay

How many hours do you work?

When looking for a job, don’t forget to check how many hours you can expect. Job descriptions will include expectations for time commitments. 

Mini-jobs, as expected from the name, are limited in hours and pay. Employees can expect up to €538 per month. Mini-jobs do not provide social security because they do not require social security contributions. Employees are also not automatically covered by health and nursing care insurance. 

Teilzeit, or part time jobs, are defined as any job where working hours are less than a full time position.

A common misconception is that part-time work requires working 20 hours or less a week. But an employee working five days a week for 30 hours, at a position that is typically 40 hours when full time can also be defined as a part time worker. 

READ ALSO: The rules in Germany around ‘mini’ and ‘midi jobs’

In fact, Germany has a term for workers who work between 28 and 36 hours a week. Vollzeitnahe Teilzeit, or nearly full time part time workers, can be a popular choice for some people, including parents. These positions can give employees more flexibility to balance work and family responsibilities. It is important to note that these workers are paid according to their time worked, so it will still amount to less than full time.

Depending on the work schedule, part time employees can earn the same amount of vacation as their full-time counterparts. That’s because holiday leave is calculated based on days worked, not hours. If a part time worker comes in five days a week, they will be eligible for at least 20 days of holiday. If that same part time worker comes in three days a week, they will be legally entitled to twelve days of vacation, even if they worked the same hours as the other employee. 

In most companies, weekly working hours between 35 and 40 hours are considered full-time employment or Vollzeitbeschäftigung. 

Watch out for the gross v. net difference

Before you sign the dotted line, it will be important to check how much of your gross salary you’ll be able to keep come pay day. Companies that include salary expectations in descriptions include gross salary (Bruttoeinkommen) – not the net income after taxes and deductions (Nettoeinkommen). The amount deducted will depend on how much you earn, the tax class you’re in and on other factors such as how much you’re paying for healthcare but it is usually around 40 percent. 

Salaried employees can find information on the deductions on their pay slip. Some to expect to see include:

  • Taxes are deducted directly from the gross pay. The amount is based on the tax bracket your salary falls within 
  • A percentage of your gross salary is also deducted for your pension / retirement contributions
  • Church taxes between eight and nine percent of your salary will also be due if you are affiliated with a religion
  • Unemployment insurance amounts to a 2.5 percent deduction from your gross salary. It is important to note that the insurance covers a salary up to €90,600 
  • Health insurance contribution rates are typically split between employers and employees. The rate depends on the provider. In 2024, the TK contribution rate to health insurance is 15.8 percent of the gross income

READ ALSO: What you need to know about your payslip in Germany 

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