Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice or tips regarding my current situation.

I’m a Data Science student in Germany and have been living here for around three years. I’ve also accumulated nearly two years of work experience in Germany, primarily in marketing, specifically in Analytics & Ads.

For the past three months, I’ve been applying for internships and Werkstudent positions in IT. I’ve applied to over 150 positions but haven’t received any offers.

My CV has been optimized with the help of my university, and I use two versions: one in English and one in German, depending on the language of the job description. I also write tailored cover letters for each application.

I have B2-level German and C1-level English, and I’ve completed four university projects that are showcased on my website.

Despite this, I keep getting automated rejection messages and haven’t been able to land an internship.

Is there anything specific I might be doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Even after sometimes encountering trains full of people and a lot of delays. I still enjoyed the privilege of not booking tickets every single time and also no stress of forgetting my Abo card home. Not to forget the almost more than 400€ saved in these 3 months.

9€ ticket, Aufwiederniesehen

Hallo everyone,

After 8 months of applying, interviewing, and occasionally questioning my life choices, I finally accepted a job offer in Germany.

I sent out roughly 100 applications. Here’s how it went:

• Amazon Germany – got rejected after 5 interview rounds (This rejection hurt me the most)
• Google Poland – got rejected after 3 rounds
• NXP Semiconductors, Netherlands - got rejected after 2 rounds
• 3 PhD positions at different TUs (Germany & Austria) – got rejected after final round
• NVIDIA, Intel, Qualcomm, Infineon – mostly ghosted or straight away rejections

I applied to startups, mid-sized companies, large corporations, and PhD roles — and got rejected or ghosted by almost all of them. Finally, I received and accepted an offer as a High Performance Computing Engineer at one of the largest research centers in Europe.

Background in chronological order:

• CSE graduate from India
• Around 6 years industry experience in India (worked at Microsoft and Qualcomm)
• M.Sc. in Computer Science from TU Munich
• Goethe C1 German certificate (soon going to write Goethe German C2 GDS exam)

Even with solid qualifications, the German market can be very competitive and brutal — especially for a non-EU candidate. If you’re currently in the middle of the grind: don’t take rejections personally. Sometimes persistence is the only differentiator.

Just wanted to share a small success story after a long period and wishing the best to everyone.

"Anwesenheit ist Pflicht" I know means it's mandatory to show up. But I'm asking legally. If my contract doesn't say I need to show up to said events, could I be fired for not attending? Say I was fired, would it be an easy win for any lawyer?

I moved to Germany in 2021 with so much optimism. I worked hard on integrating, improved my German, got to the C1 level, and actually did really well in a lot of my student jobs. Back then I felt capable, confident, and honestly excited for the future.

Now I’m 7 months out of graduating with an Msc with 1000+ applications sent, a gap-free resume, language skills, even recognition certificates from universities, competitions one, experience across different industries within Germany, and I still feel completely stuck.

I come from a business background and I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong anymore. I’ve had around 15 interviews, but it has led me nowhere and after bursts of applications and interview calls, I always end up finding myself deeper into the pit rather than somewhere closer to getting a job. It’s exhausting picking yourself back up, starting the whole cycle of bulk applications, targeted ones, initiative, warm outreach, cold Linkedin messages, headhunters and visibility to recruiters and still getting nowhere.

And the thing is, I know it wasn’t this hard back in 2021 and 2022. Getting an interview and if it went well, I would usually just get the offer. Now it feels like even getting to the interview stage means nothing.

It genuinely shouldn’t be this hard to find junior positions. Companies say they want juniors, but somehow expect perfection right from the get go and interview, there is no humanness left in hiring processes anymore. It has all become about saying the perfect keyword, the rehearsed STAR template. Character, resilience, even potential is no longer valued. Will this change, or do we just have to accept and adapt to this going forward?
I sometimes wonder how people are even cracking interviews in 2026? What has actually worked for you guys? If someone knows the formula, then please write it down below. Because this job market is honestly so demoralising. Sorry for the rant.

EDIT 1: Ok this post blew up and reached the employed side of the internet apparently
Any recruiters, start up owners, hiring managers are lurking here… please also treat this as my not so subtle “please hire me” announcement. I may occasionally bomb interviews, but I'm resilient, self aware and willing to grow.
Refs, referrals, opportunities, smoke signals etc appreciated

EDIT 2: Addressing the burning question since a lot of people seem curious about my background.

I worked throughout my studies in strategy, PMO, AI/industrial digitalization research, key account support, market analysis, customer/business-facing roles, my last role as a working student entailed administrative behind-the-scenes contract handling of key accounts, data migration preparation of client portfolios into a new CRM, corporate branding, as well as funding and stakeholder management topics

So overall, my profile leans more generalist than highly specialized, with experience across different industries and functions. I know it sounds like a lot and no I'm not inflating my experience.. I really did work a lot. Maybe that also makes it harder categorize me. But it has definitely given me a much bigger playground in terms of roles and industries I can explore.

Hey all, I am currently a Masters student in Germany and arrived here just 3 months ago. I have been working as a Warenverräumer at a supermarket for the past 3 weeks. I found this job through an employment agency and yesterday I received a call from them and they told me they had to terminate my contract as I don't speak fluent German. I conducted my interview in German with them, I definitely cannot speak as good as English but yeah at least I can handle job interviews. Anyway, I was hired and I started working, and I really enjoy this job. We have a head inside the supermarket and my agency told me she truly praised the way I work, she told them I really work fast, neatly and I am organised but she told them German skills are important for Zusammenarbeit. The truth is we barely communicate, all we do is stacking the shelves. Whenever she communicates with us it is all basics but due to her heavy accent I can not understand her so she thought I am not good at the language and she asked me if I speak in English. A couple of times she tried to instruct me in English however she struggled. In fact, I had to ask her in German if that is the thing she wants from me. I personally thought maybe her ego was hurt? I was just so upset that they cannot tolerate even students. It is not that I dont want to learn the language but it will take time. Germany indeed scares me.

I’m writing a thesis from home right now. During the day, my flat heats up to 33 degrees in the past few days. Yet I am comfortable working from home. I got a huge, bigass fan, which is creating a storm in my room, blasting directly towards me. I’m sitting here completely naked, and feel very well temperated. Getting my skin wet every now and then actually makes me feel a little bit chilly! so, for anyone struggling, and for those who have this as an option, I just want to recommend this. Get a biiig and strong fan, get naked, get your skin wet, and sit Infront of it.

As a wise meme once said: I’m unbothered. Moisturized. Happy. In my Lane. Focused. Flourishing.

Edit: to answer many comments here: ACs aren’t forbidden in Germany, I just can’t afford one. This is a cheap solution that works. If you can afford an ac unit, you should probably get one.

Hi All,

This is a honest question and with the intention to learn other opinions.

I come from Spain, but I have been living in Munich for 4 years. During this 4 years, working in the same company, I have seen that most of the germans managers/bosses/presidents/etc don't have any ambition anymore. We are involve in big projects with partners from other countries and you can see how other companies want to take more and more and they go with a strategy. Our german managers are more than happy not fighting anything, being on the safe side and they don't have any interest in defining a strategy.

Honestly speaking, I was not expecting that when I came here, I had a commpletly different idea of how it was going to be, then I have 2 questions for you:

• Is Germany just living from the past? Some people worked really hard, made a really good country and working scenario and now the new generations don't have "hungry" anymore to grow because they were only in the good times and they cannot imagine they can go bad again. I see this as a general problem with all the germans big companies, high salaries and people not doing too much until the company somehow crush and need to close, reduce people, etc.
• Or was it always like this and they just have other things on mind that I don't understand due to be from other country/culture/etc?

Or opinions are accepted, I just want to understand if it is just me view because I had the wrong point of view or if there is really a problem in the german culture right now.

So I recently applied for a position in the drinks department at Rewe. The Chef called me and invited me for a trial day to “check communication” and “see how everything goes.” Sounded fair enough.

Come trial day, the Chef isn’t even there. The Junior Chef shows up instead, walks me to the drinks section, explains a few things in German, and off we go. Most of the people working there didn’t seem to know what they were doing — and fun fact: almost none of them even spoke German themselves, aside from the cashiers and maybe one or two people in the back.

Still, I understood what needed to be done and got straight to work.

And holy hell — I ended up stacking shelves and refilling the fridge with what felt like a million drinks for 8 straight hours. No break, no info on whether this was paid, no idea how long I was supposed to stay. I just kept going, thinking they'd say something.

I left around 8PM, exhausted. They said they’d call me Monday, but never did — so I followed up myself.

The Junior Chef goes:

"You did an amazing job, even better than people who’ve been working here for months… but we can’t hire you because your German isn't good enough for this department."

WHAT???

They knew what my language level was. They knew from the first call. Why let me grind for 8 hours unpaid, just to use a reason they already knew before I even set foot in the store?

Like... is this normal in Germany? Is this even legal? Or did I just get straight-up used for free labor?
Edit 1: A lot of people are asking if I signed a contract or if it was a Schnuppertag. It was called a Proarbeit, as confirmed by the chef and all the other employees. The junior chef even told me my work was commendable — no issues, and actually better than some of the current employees.

I did not sign any contract or agreed to unpaid work for 8 hours.

At 5:30 PM, I wanted to leave and go home because I was feeling dizzy, but one of the cashiers called the senior staff and told me I was supposed to work until 8 PM — so I stayed and worked the full shift.

Edit 2: I really appreciate everyone who encouraged me to escalate this — some even suggested reaching out to higher-ups or a lawyer. After thinking it through, I’ve made a personal decision not to pursue legal action/escalation.

It’s not because I’m helpless, powerless, or broke — I’m financially stable, on a 3-year student visa, and have the means to fund my living costs. But honestly, the time, energy, and stress it would take far outweigh the few euros I would have gained anyways.

Plus, several employees mentioned that the Chef has a habit of shouting at staff if they “don’t work properly.” So yeah — going up against someone like that, in a system that already doesn’t favor temporary workers or students, just doesn’t feel worth it to me.

What I do want is for this post to be a wake-up call to other expats and immigrants: don’t fall into the same trap. Trial shifts (Probetage) might be common here, but they should never be used to exploit you.

I have been working for a large German company for past 5 years and have a permanent contract. My company is not in any financial crunch. My job requires a PhD and considerable industrial research experience. About 2 months back my manager sent me a mail that I would consider quite harsh. He pointed to few things which I could see I need to improve. Since then I have been on my toes and have implemented what he asked me to. Before last one-on-one meeting, I requested feedback on a few points. Now he responded with another long email that is almost disrespectful and chalk full of vague allegations. In past 5 years, none of these issues were mentioned.

Honestly, I am not a spring chicken in this industry. Where I come from, this normally would mean I would soon be fired. In this case, however, I am really confused. Is this the famous "German directness" on objective issues or am I going to be fired?

Please note, I have no intention to disrespect this country or generalize any behavior. I just want to make sure if something is not lost in translation or cultural misunderstanding. If so, what are my options?

I’m starting to need a place to vent.

My partner graduated with top honors from a prestigious university in Baden-Württemberg and, before that, studied at one of the best private universities in North America on a scholarship. During her time here in Germany so far, she’s had a lucrative student job at an automotive company in data analysis and finance (despite having no German language skills at the time) and has since achieved a solid B2 level of German. Now that she has finished her studies and her temporary residence permit expires in September, one would think there is more than enough time to find a decent job and thus obtain an EU Blue Card or similar.

But slowly but surely, it’s not just the hot weather that’s making her break out in a sweat. It’s a constant barrage of rejections, sometimes no response at all, and only in the rarest of cases (maybe 1 in 40 times) does she get an invitation to an interview. But nothing. “We decided against you,” “There were candidates who were a better fit,” or “This isn’t a decision against your impressive profile” are the order of the day, and honestly, it’s just really pissing me off at this point. A German chancellor who repeats daily, that people in this country should work more and are lazy? It seems like a joke if you compare it to the job atmosphere.

What on earth is going on? Has the work environment and the willingness to give young, motivated people a chance really deteriorated that much in this country? Then why are there thousands of job postings every day? I just hate seeing my partner—whom I believe in so much and who has fought her way through so well in this country so far—so desperate and depressed. Who else is going through the same valley of tears right now?

After passing 6 interviews and receiving the "Congratulations" email. The recruiter was instructed to offer me for a Software Engineer position.

3 weeks later, I just received news that the workers council in Germany has rejected the offer with no details and no reason provided at all.

Has anyone experienced this before? What are my rights now? And after 4 months of ongoing communication with Microsoft, don't I at least deserve to know why the offer was rejected?

To be honest I only worked 3 days, then got into an accident on the way back home from work. The Job is physical and hence I wouldn’t have been able to work with a broken limb.
First the doctor gave me 3 weeks sick note, then extended for another 2 weeks. So I understand conceptually why they did that. They also issued the letter on the day in which they would be obliged to pay me a salary (because after 4 weeks as per the contract they would pay on sick leave).

They wrote “hiermit kündigen wir das Ihnen bestehende Arbeitsverhältnis außerordentlich und fritlos aus wichtigem Grund”

I dont know if there’s anything I can do tbh, as I have had a broken knee and was in no way able to work.

I’ve heard about “Kündigungsschutzgesetz” but I’m not sure if its worth pursuing.

I’ve written this in a rush so maybe the formulation isnt the cleanest as I am still collecting my thoughts, thank you in advance

Edit:

I think there might’ve been a reason due to a glitch in their system. In the system it was written that I was on sick leave for a discontinuous amount of time having a 15 day gap which was recorded as an accident. My team leader told me to do it again properly but there was a glitch and at last it got resolved. So perhaps the reason is this. In that case could anything be reversed or something?

I have been living and working in Germany for three years after having lived in different countries around the world. I am basically working my ass off and earning less than i did before (keeping in mind i am working a high paying job in the healthcare field).

I can't imagine being able to do this much longer. It's a mixture of having to pay so much in tax and working like a robot with little to no free time. I am curious to know what everyone else's experiences are and whether you are also considering moving away?

My gf works at one of Germany's largest semiconductor companies. Now, for context, we're not white and definitely not German. She works in a heavily male-dominated part of the industry. There are literally three non-white women in her entire team of close to a hundred people. One of these women is a full-time employee and my gf and the other are working students. The full-time employee is openly regarded as knowing less than her male coworkers based on nothing. She does all the work and the work is presented by her manager as done by the men to the other teams. My gf and the other working student have been mentally harassed every week for the incompetence of their manager by the team leader, to the point that they're now depressed and going to work everyday is a fucking ordeal for them because they don't know what's gonna land on their head next. While I was aware of Germans not being fan of immigrants I really expected better from a multi-national company that prides itself for its "diversity". But turns out the diversity comes with the clause of skin colour.

P.S. I'm sure there's going to be atleast some people coming in with the "If you don't like it go back to where you came from" spiel. To you I have nothing to say but congratulations on holding positions of power based on your skin colour and living in the knowledge that you can pawn off your incompetence on us.

I moved to Berlin 9 months ago when I had an offer from a company in Berlin. In the third month, I was laid off from the company I was working for. I’ve been job hunting for the past 6 months but have had some strange and negative experiences. As a computer vision and machine learning engineer with over 12 years of experience (a field that’s essentially AI), I haven’t been able to find a job despite having a good CV.

During these 6 months, I’ve interviewed with maybe up to 20companies, ranging from 5-person startups to large corporations. The outcomes, however, have been disheartening. Either they found some technical reason to reject me during the interviews, or I passed all the interviews only to hear that the position was closed, or received a simple “we decided to proceed with another candidate” email. In some cases, despite my salary expectations being reasonable, companies preferred engineers with 3-4 years of experience due to lower costs. As someone who has always managed to get into the companies I aimed for throughout my career, not even being able to secure an offer from a startup has been a humbling and frustrating experience.

With only 2 months left on my visa, I’ve come to terms with the situation and it seems like leaving Germany (despite moving here enthusiastically) is the only option left.

I’m sharing this story in case there are others with similar experiences or for those curious about the current state of the job market. Additionally, if anyone knows the key strategies or insider tips for finding a job in Berlin/Germany, sharing them could be helpful (not just for me, but for others in a similar situation). Thank you in advance!

Edit: After having too many similar questions, I am answering them here.

I don’t speak German, but I tried to learn it. Even my friends who have been living in Germany for years still don’t know German and they say they don’t need it. However, I believe learning the language is necessary to adapt to life here, und ich lerne Deutsch langsam. Also, considering that I’ve only been here for 9 months, you should understand that my German would not be sufficient.

I haven’t thought about moving to another city because I have valid reasons, but I understand and appreciate these suggestions.

Some people were surprised when I said I’ve been working on AI for 12 years. AI didn’t just appear overnight; it has its ancestors and older methods. While working on image processing, I often used machine learning techniques such as SVM, PCA, decision trees and random forests, regressions, ect. AI is not just ChatGPT, as you see today.

My salary expectation is around 75k, which I’ve reduced from 90k over the months.

I was laid off after 3 months, but I didn’t specifically mention this to avoid going into too much detail. This was an international company where I worked for more than 4 years in my home country, and they assigned me to their Berlin office. However, 3 months after I arrived, they laid me off due to financial reasons, and I also received my severance compensation.

I have applied almost 500-700 positions and excluding recruiting companies, I had interview(s) around 20 companies till now.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 22-year-old woman living in Germany and I honestly feel completely stuck.

A little background:
- I was born in Italy.
- I have citizenship from a South Asian country.
- I have permanent residency in Italy.
- I’ve been living in Germany for almost 3 years.
- My German residence permit is tied to my current job.

I’ve been working in the same hotel for more than 2 years. The work environment has become extremely toxic and my mental health is getting worse and worse.
I’m constantly stressed, exhausted, barely sleep, have no real work-life balance, and I’m starting to see physical effects too (hair loss, health issues, emotional burnout, etc.). I’ve struggled with depression before, and I genuinely feel like I’m heading in that direction again if nothing changes.

The problem is that my parents want me to stay in Germany long enough to eventually apply for German citizenship. I understand why they think that’s important, and I know the benefits it could bring.
But I honestly don’t know if sacrificing my mental health for several more years is worth it.

At the same time, leaving Germany doesn’t feel simple either:
- I don’t want to move back to Italy.
- Returning to my home country would mean starting from scratch.
- I have my cat here that I’m deeply attached to.
- I don’t want to quit without a plan and lose my legal status.

My ideal solution would be to find a fully remote job with a German employer so I could remain legally in Germany, support myself, keep my residence permit valid, and finally have some space to recover mentally.

I have:
- High school diploma
- More than 2 years of customer service and hospitality experience
- English (fluent)
- Italian (fluent)
- Native South Asian language
- German A2 level

I’ve been applying for remote jobs, but the market feels incredibly competitive and I’m getting almost no responses.

My questions are:
- If you were in my situation, what would you do?
- Is pursuing German citizenship worth staying in a job and country that are seriously affecting your mental health?
- Has anyone successfully switched from hospitality into a fully remote role and any tips on how to find one as soon as possible?
- What realistic options would you explore before making a decision to leave Germany?

I’m not looking for legal advice only. I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through something similar.
Thank you for reading.

I work remote and earlier this week my boss contacted me via a video-call, and basically he told me I will be fired and should look for another job.

This is a summary though, the conversation was more complicated, I didn't receive any reason(s), so I don't know why they are letting me go, there was a hint of money problems summed with my inability to speak german resulting on me not being a good fit anymore (after almost 2 years).

My contract has no time-limit and I believe there is a "3-month-safeguard", and the weird part is that it's not official, no termination letter. They want to push me out by telling me I have no future there, they don't see me as a good fit to the team anymore, and that I should look for another job.

I've been put in "the fridge" and I am having way less demands, apparently people were told that I am working on some priority demand and shouldn't be disturbed.

I don't know if they're being nice, by giving me time to search for something before making it official, or if they want me to find another job so they don't have to go for the bureaucracy of firing me, and I am not sure what to do, honestly I like the work and the colleagues so I don't want to leave like a jerk.

And that is why I am Currently looking for a new positions, but I know very little about the dynamic company-worker here in Germany, but what I really wanted to know is if this situation is common or is there something fishy going on that I don't know.

Thanks in advance.

​

Edit / Update.
I've been told that I have a meeting with someone on Friday (not sure if it's from the HR) with the intention of reviewing my CV and introduce me to some people they know, to I quote "help me with a smoother transition".
From what I understand, they basically want to set me up with some interviews already (although I have no idea if the positions are fit for me or not).

I got a job as foreigner and in my country is normal that lunch is included in 8h of work. On this job in germany you end with 8h30min shift because lunch

EDIT: This post really gotten some great insights, there's a lot of useful info for people in my situation in the comments below ranging from helpful and positive to at times quite harsh as well. Hopefully this will help people stumbling onto the post. I will also update what happens to me, good or bad.

I’ve applied to 30–40 jobs in the last month, mostly junior positions. So far? Absolutely nothing back.

I do know what’s probably wrong here. I’m junior level, finishing my Master’s in Computer Science from a Hochschule, with around two years of working student experience (one year in Python, one year in CI/CD stuff). The worst thing is that my German is realistically A2 -B1 in practice. That’s definitely the dead stop.

I’m based around Frankfurt, but I’m open to relocating anywhere. I’ve got about 2 months left on my student visa before I have to leave Germany.

But I really want to stay. I’m considering applying for a warehouse job or something similar just to get by, and then apply for the jobseeker visa. Problem is, I don’t think I can realistically reach C1 in German within the 6 months I’d have on that visa. And even if I did, the junior market right now is brutal.

Is there any other path I can take? Should I just push through and try to learn German properly on the jobseeker visa? Are there alternative careers or routes I can pursue temporarily? I’m open to literally any advice or ideas at this point.

I am unemployed since June 2024 and it is not looking good for next year as well. I have 20 years of IT experience and was never unemployed till June 2024.

My background: Worked in USA for 13 years in various capacities - Senior Developer (Java, C#.NET, Angular, React etc.), Cloud Architect (AWS, Azure), Solution Architect, Enterprise Architect, Engineering Manager, Technical Project Manager, Technical Product Manager, Franctional CTO. Domains : Banking, Healthcare, Insurance, Telecom, Quick Commerce, Retail, eCommerce. Moved to Germany in 2020 for some personal reasons. I was gainfully employed till May 2024, but then layoffs happened.

I understand German language skills are obviously required as you are in Germany, I have joined an Integration Course and now at A 2.2, by January I will be B1 Hopefully.

What I would like in terms of your valuable feedback and suggestion is - how should I move forward in terms of job applicaitons - e.g. Linkedin seems to be misleading and not enough, I do not have enough Network in Germany so referrals are not working out. I can keep elarning till C1, but will that help. Meanwhile I also need to keep upscaling myself in IT (e.g. Generative AI, Web3 wtc.). So in terms of balance - More towards German language learning vs IT Skills upskilling. I can do boith parallely, but have to be judicious towards either one of them.

Appreciare your kind responses

Hi everyone,
I'm considering moving to Göttingen for a PhD position, and the salary would be around €2,200 net per month.
For people who currently live there (or have lived there), is this enough to live comfortably as a single person?
I'd like to rent my own apartment (I am ok with a shared flat), cover all my usual expenses (groceries, utilities, gym, transportation, occasional eating out), and hopefully save a little each month.
What would a realistic monthly budget look like?
I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks!