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Working in Germany: It’s a myth you need to speak German to land a job

German career Coach Chris Pyak sheds light on the number one worry he sees among his job seeking clients - and explains why it's easy to overcome.

Published: 26 September 2019 13:52 CEST
Working in Germany: It's a myth you need to speak German to land a job
A woman at a job interview. Photo: Depositphotos/eggeeggjiew

Since 2013 I have helped international professionals to get English jobs in Germany. Over the years I guided hundreds of internationals in their job hunt in Germany. Thousands participated in my yearly Expats Career Survey.

Here's the number one piece of feedback which I receive: “They say I need to speak German to get a job.”

But is language really what keeps you from being successful? In my analysis of the German job market I realized that the majority of all job openings do not require German language skills.

READ ALSO: Find English-language jobs in Germany

Only a few exceptions

Sure, there are jobs like medical doctors and nurses where the German language is a legal requirement. A lawyer or an accountant won’t get anywhere without reading German law – which is confusing enough for native speakers, let alone foreigners.

But these jobs make up a very small percentage of the available job offers. The majority of all jobs that demand a university degree are software developer, consultants, analysts, sales people, project manager, engineers and manager.

A recruiter looks at an applicant's CV. Photo: Despositphotos/alexraths

I regularly interview companies that hire professionals for all these positions – and they do a great job in English. The challenge: Only 1% of German companies are so forward thinking that they hire in English. 

Most HR departments still insist on fluent German language skills. 

Over the years, I have easily talked to over 800 HR managers. There are the extreme cases where an HR manager insists on “fluent German” – for a sales position that focuses on cold calling corporate clients in France.

'German required'?

And there's also the not so seldom case when international candidates were told “German required” by HR – just to discover that the whole department works in English after they talked directly to the manager with my help.

This is what makes me really sad: I have analyzed the German job market for six years already. I speak to hundreds of HR managers and department heads. Thousands of expatriates share their story with me – and I don’t see progress.

Here is the thing: In way to many cases it is not “German language”, that holds you back. It’s discrimination. 

The German “Institut für die Zukunft der Arbeit” (Institute for the Future of Work) is a government agency. It tested how many job applications the average candidate needs to send in order to secure one job interview.

Here are the results of the survey – and my advice on how to deal with this situation.

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.

Member comments

  1. This article does not make much sense at all to me. I would imagine that anybody who moves to a new and foreign land, and wants to call it home, would want to learn the their host’s customs, language and integrate as fast as possible. I think the author here expects the whole world to became anglised and speak english. For example, if I wanted to live and work in Turkey, I certainly would not expect my perspective boss to speak English, just to facilitate me. I would expect him to speak his native language. I am sure, his native language, and customs etc are very important to him, because that is how he is, his identity. If I wanted to have a successful life, career in Turkey, I would naturally immerse myself in Turkish culture. Become ‘More Turkish, than the Turks themselves’. It’s basic common sense really.
    And headscarves? I thought the article was about lack of basic, functional language skills in the German labour market.
    This article is absolute rubbish, and the author’s insinuations at the end of the article are particularly annoying and irksome.

  2. However the author makes a good point: why are HR departments requiring German skills for a job where you don’t really speak German but English. That sounds like discrimination to me.

  3. I do think discrimination exists but not in this sense. Discrimination is when you speak German and they still dont choose you. You are in Germany, if they can find someone know the language with good skill, why would they choose you? Being hamonized with the company culture and the colleagues is important. It doesnt make any sense when everyone have to speak English while they are local because only 1 staffs speak English. You can finish your job but you will always feel you are out of the group and will end up think they discriminate you. I am Vietnamese and I am not yet good in German. Dont make excuse!

  4. @Dame Good:

    What you said is hypocritical. You go to Turkey and you must integrate because your boss’s identity and culture are important to him. But what about yourself? Isn’t your identity important? Why should you change just because you’re working abroad? English is an established international form of communication, it doesn’t hurt your identity.

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TAXES

EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Leaving the country? Got a steady job offer you can’t say no to? Winding down your self-employment activities in Germany still requires taking a few bureaucratic steps.

Published: 15 May 2024 09:07 CEST
Updated: 15 May 2024 10:57 CEST
EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Striking out on your own as self-employed is one of the scariest – and potentially most rewarding things – you can do. In Germany, it also comes with its own set of rules around tax and social insurance.

But there are times when – for whatever reason – it may be time to move on.

Whether it’s because you have an exciting new opportunity or things haven’t quite worked out the way you hoped due to economic pressures – winding down self-employment the right way is crucial to avoid gaps in your health and social insurance coverage in Germany.

The steps you have to take are also a bit different depending on if you are new self-employed (Freiberufler) or have a trade licence (Gewerbe) – with some steps not being necessary for new self-employed.

Trade licences are automatically cancelled if the licenced person dies or the company ceases to have financial assets.

Resigning the trade licence or declaring it dormant

New self-employed people like writers or speakers don’t need to go through this step, as they don’t need a trade licence.

Those who have a trade licence will need to contact their competent local authority and resign it, or declare it dormant (withdrawing the licence). If you’re only winding down temporarily, declaring your trade licence dormant instead of de-registering completely may save you a few headaches later.

You may have to do this in person at your local trade office – or Gewerbeamt – depending on whether your local authority allows online de-registration or not. You’ll need to bring your official ID, trade licence, confirmation of registration and possibly an extract from the trade register. Fees are dependent on your local authority and can range from being free to €25.

You can declare the date you intend to resign the licence – which can be in the future. To ensure no gaps in your social insurance protections, including health insurance, set this date for the day before whatever comes next. For example, if you’re starting a new job on January 1st set the date for your trade licence to expire as December 31st.

The trade office will typically notify your local tax office, so you won’t need to do this yourself.

Notifying your tax office

If you’ve had to resign your trade licence, you can skip this step as your trade office will do it for you. If you’re a Freiberufler without a trade licence you need to resign, you’ll have to notify your local Finanzamt, or tax office, yourself.

Luckily, this is a pretty easy step.

First, you need to decide whether you’re ceasing operations completely or wanting to continue them part-time. If you’re ceasing completely, you’ll end up surrendering your self-employed tax number.

You don’t have to do this though. If you think you may still carry on some self-employed business as a side gig, you can inform the tax office that you intend to do so and keep your number.

At that point, the tax office should treat you as a Kleinunternehmer – or a small business making less than €22,000 a year. Having this status means that you will not need to pre-pay taxes or charge VAT on your invoices for freelance side projects.

If you derive any income from your side gig in the future though, you’ll still have to file a tax return.

READ ALSO: Can I have a freelance side gig as an employee in Germany?

Notifying your health insurance

While different private plans in Germany may have different notification requirements, if you have public health insurance in Germany, you should notify them that you’re winding up your self-employed business. Specifically, advise them exactly what date you’re wrapping up.

Again, this should be right before you start your new job or leave the country, to ensure no gaps in your coverage.

If ending your self-employment in Germany, take care to ensure that there’s no gaps in your health insurance coverage, by giving the right date for when you’re ceasing activity. You don’t want to be caught without coverage. Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash

If you are in an artistic profession and thus pay pension, health, and nursing insurance through the Artist Social Insurance Fund (KSK), you should also advise them as well. If you’re leaving self-employment completely, you can typically give notice to KSK as to when it’s ending.

If you’re not, and intend to still make money freelancing as a side gig, they should know this as well. In this event, you’ll no longer pay health or care insurance through KSK, as this is covered through your main job.

You may need to continue to pay pension contributions through KSK based on the amount of money you still make from self-employed activities — depending on how much of them you continue.

KSK: How creative freelancers can pay less for German health insurance

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