It’s a fact: Germany needs babies. The generous welfare system of this social democracy needs young people to work hard and pay enough taxes to support the rest of society. One problem: young people are too busy working to bother with raising the next generation of workers. How to solve it? Pay them to reproduce!
Ok, it sounds like really tacky social engineering when I put it that way. Let me try again. READ MORE »
Japan Wins the 2011 World Cup - photo picked up via Google from Thomas Lachetta's Blog
Talk about a nail-biter! Did you see that game last night? It was amazing! The stadium was packed, the fans were at turns euphoric and devastated, and in the end, it all came down to a few penalty kicks. For the world championship of soccer. Women’s soccer. You missed it? I hardly believe it. I’m pretty sure that no female sport has ever had as much attention as that game did yesterday… or perhaps I’m just biased. It was, after all, a World Cup tournament in this soccer-crazed country and my team was in the final. I even knew people in the stands (who I looked for every time the camera panned the crowd).
It’s a shame that Germany didn’t progress to the final as they had planned, but it lessened their pain when the team who kicked them out ended up winning the tournament. Japan was certainly the underdog going into the game, and despite my nationality I was secretly pulling for them. READ MORE »
CV vs Lebenslauf
The first and primary document that most employers will request with your job application is your “Lebenslauf”. A German’s Lebenslauf is very different from an American resume or a European CV. If you want to put together a Lebenslauf, it would be best to search online for a format you like or to refer to a book like, “Die perfekte Bewerbungsmappe” by Hesse & Schrader. This book can also help you to write a cover letter (Anschreiben). Some of the notable aspects of the Lebenslauf include: a photo of yourself, your age/birthdate, your marital status, number and ages of children, your hobbies, and your education from high school level. Often, Lebenslaufe do not contain descriptions of the jobs one has previously held, only the job titles.
READ MORE »
Last time I blogged it was about my job search in Germany. As I mentioned several times, I believe that speaking German is the biggest hurdle that one faces when looking for a job. The second hurdle is being at the right place at the right time. What do I mean by that? That you can’t expect to find a job simply through applying through monster.de or stepstone.de or company websites. By applying online, you are faced with the following problems:
There are many days I think to myself, “Oh my God, why did I leave my good job and move to a country where I can’t find a job to save my life?!” How many of you have thought the same? In 2009, I moved to Frankfurt from London for personal reasons (personal disclosure: I am American, now married to a German). I worked in finance and thought, it should be a snap to get a job in the banking capital of Germany! But would I need to speak German? If I had a euro for every time someone said to me, “Frankfurt is soooo international! There are so many global companies that will surely be OK if you don’t speak German. They all speak English!” These well-meaning people have no idea how tough it is to get a job here if you are a foreigner and don’t speak fluent German.
First of all, I have heard there is an unspoken prejudice against non-Germans where firms will throw out one CV after another because the applicant’s name betrays the fact that the person is a foreigner. Turkish, Polish, Asian… none of us have a shot! Yes, I admit this is completely unproven, but I know from first hand experience that, only when I assumed my German husband’s last name did I start getting responses back about my CV. Same CV, similar companies, similar types of jobs. And no, I did not translate my CV into German. Coincidence? Unfortunately, I think not. READ MORE »
Last week I achieved a milestone in my life as an expat. I finally received a permanent residence permit. You might think that after 10.5 years in Germany, I would have done this long ago. Alas, it seems I’m not very good with this kind of bureaucracy. There were a few difficulties, longer stays abroad, forgetfulness, and thus I kept renewing for the standard 3 year time period. But now… now I can stay forever, in case I want that. READ MORE »
I have just completed my first work week in Ireland, after working in Germany for most of my adult life. My most recent stint was at a large German company that was known for being relaxed and friendly, two qualities that are not always associated with other sorts of German companies. Now I am working at a large American company with an office in Ireland, and the differences are vast and amazing to me.
For a short while in the 90s, I did work in the US at a large automotive company, but for the most part, my working life has been spent in Germany. My first job was at a small publishing company that focused on the exciting world of roofing tiles and ceramics. There were four or five of us Sachbearbeiter, all of whom actually translated, edited and desktop published. When I joined the company, almost everyone used the formal Sie with one another, from the CEO down to the cleaning lady. After two years, my American openness had filtered out a bit and our whole department finally managed to use first names with one another. When I interviewed there, the CEO actually asked me whether I planned to have kids in the near future. Of course this was and continues to be illegal, but what can you do, poor and desperate for a job and fresh out of college? As a fresh-out-of-college feminist, this pushed my buttons. I was astounded that jobs in the newspaper were directed at either men or women. READ MORE »
Weakness is often, to mangle a perfectly good cliche, in the eye of a beholder.
People move to Germany for lots of reasons. Following a loved one who has had a transfer, caring for family, learning experience, new adventures and so on. It can be a dream come true. Eventually, though, most of us have to get back to that reality of making a living. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because your German skills and knowledge of German business culture is not fully up to speed that you are at a disadvantage.
I was recently reminded of how much vacation time Germans get. I sent an email to a gentleman at a German publishing house with whom I had been corresponding, only to get a reply from his secretary that read: “Danke für Ihr Mail an Herrn K. Hier nur ein Zwischenbescheid: Herr K ist zur Zeit im Urlaub.” (“Thanks for your email to Herr K. Here just an interim notice: Herr K is on vacation.”)
What was I thinking? Trying to contact a German business person in mid-July or August? The whole country goes on vacation in the summer. (That’s in addition to the week or two they spent in Greece, Spain or Turkey during the winter.) Northern Europeans live to see the sun in the summer that they never saw all winter! Germans can fly to the US for a four-week summer vacation, with all of that time being paid annual leave. READ MORE »
I recently had an encounter with some Americans who worked closely with German colleagues — not very well. They felt that their hard work and efforts were underappreciated by the Germans and that they were regarded as a bunch of cowboys. They felt that compared to their Asian and European counterparts in the same company, they were the only ones following the rules. Meanwhile, the German headquarters did indeed think that these Americans were making up their own rules. The glaring stereotypes of cavalier American butting heads with straightlaced, humorless Germans popped in my mind. This seemed to be a clear case of intercultural communication problems.
Let’s dissect the relationship a bit.
READ MORE »
Recent Comments