The 26-year-old Romanian, Diana Stanica, had a hard time finding a job in Germany after finishing her studies in France and moving to Berlin. She attended the program “BeuthBonus” a project of the Beuth Hochschule in Berlin, which prepares foreign professionals for the German job market. The program showed her why her previous attempts at getting a job had failed, and what strategies she could employ to be more successful the second time around. Eventually she got a job at the Technische Universität Berlin as a research assistant. In her guest commentary she shares what problems international professionals face within the German job market and what aspects of the BeuthBonus program helped her to get the job.
After I finished high school in Romania, I moved to France to study Energy and Environmental Engineering at an engineering school (INSA de Lyon). As part of my studies, I also did an Erasmus exchange year in Stuttgart, Germany, after which I decided to move to Germany: That experience helped me realize that I felt closer to the German culture and society than to its French counterpart. Also professionally it made more sense to work in Germany as my goal is to work in the field of renewable energies and to contribute to the transition toward clean energy, and Germany is the best place to do that.
I moved here (to Berlin) one and a half years ago. I had my Engineering Diploma (equivalent to a Masters) but no work experience. I continued learning German and searching for jobs in the Renewable Energy industry, but it was only after beginning the BeuthBonus Qualification, that I started being invited to more interviews and eventually got a job at TU as a research assistant (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) in August of this year.
Why it’s so hard to get a job as a foreign professional in Germany
I think my problem with securing a job was due to a combination of factors, the most important being that employers in Germany didn’t recognize or know about my degree and my level of German wasn’t good enough to work on client-oriented positions. But from my point of view, the most difficult thing for foreign professionals in Germany is understanding and adapting to the different job market and finding out what options and opportunities are out there.
I work in the Energy Industry, with a focus on renewable energies, and of course this industry and consequently the job market are very different in Germany than in France. I studied at an engineering school where engineering studies are a bit broader than in Germany, which by contrast has very specialized study paths. My experience (from internships) was also a bit more varied. It took me months of research to identify the kind of jobs I could apply to in Germany, given my studies and qualifications.
It also took me a huge amount of time to make my CV and write a cover letter in German, because the layout, formulations, and focus-points for German CVs differ from French CVs. You can’t simply translate your existing CV or cover letter. And of course, if your level of German is not that good or you don’t have help, it is even more difficult. It makes a huge difference to have professional support in this area.
After and during the BeuthBonus program, I started broadening my horizons and applying to more diverse jobs, also in other cities and with bigger companies, where my international and intercultural skills could play in my favor, or at universities, where the selection process is not driven by strict HR-departments.
How the BeuthBonus Program prepared me for the German job market
I attended the BeuthBonus Program from the second-half of February 2016 until the end of June. I took part in the Kompakt program, which included: three coaching modules, three one-day-long workshops meant to improve one’s presentation and soft skills, and one technical Online-Class, which I chose from a wide selection of classes offered by the Beuth Hochschule für Technik (I took a Project Management class).
The training didn’t take place every day, and the most time-consuming part was the work I did from home (the actual searching for jobs and writing of applications).
At the beginning (end of Februray-mid April), we had group sessions for the “Bewerbungstraining” (application training). In these group sessions we discussed how to determine and set our professional goals, how we can best achieve them, we identified our skills, developed our professional profiles and determined what kind of jobs would match that profile and our expectations. Later we discussed the structure of job applications (cover page, CV, cover letter, certifications) in the context of the German market, what recruiters are looking for, etc. Finally we simulated interviews, practiced answering typical and job-specific questions, and discussed how to best present and sell ourselves.
After the Bewerbungstraining, we started the “Medienkompetenztraining” (media-competence training), which took place from April to June. It included three group coaching sessions of 3 hours each, three private coaching sessions of 1 hour, and one final session in which we presented our social media profiles to other members of the program. We learned how to expand our professional network through social media in order to get access to potential jobs that aren’t advertised on normal platforms. We then looked at how we might create a professional profile and establish an online-reputation through social media, and how to use these platforms accordingly.
The “Sprachcoaching” (German classes) took place during the entire period of the program, with group sessions every second week and private Skype sessions corresponding to our needs: correcting cover letters, discussing specific grammar or lexical questions, etc. I already had a B2/C1 level when I started the program and I don’t think that changed a lot but I managed to expand my formal vocabulary and improve my pronunciation.
We also had to choose one technical module out of a large selection of classes offered by the Beuth Hochschule for Technik. The “Project Management” module I took as an online class started along with the university semester (mid-April).
What I found most helpful in the program
Overall what I found most helpful was the Bewerbungstraining. Even if I had already been in Germany for a while and had done a lot of research on the job application procedure and knew more or less exactly what kind of job I was looking for, I still felt a bit lost and frustrated in this process. Like everyone that attended the program, I had started to lose confidence in myself and in the likelihood of getting a job in Germany. I was losing sight of my objective. The most valuable part of the program is that you get to reassess your objectives, break them down into steps so you have a clearer map of where to start, understand that failure is a part of the process. Then, by looking at my competences and skills and working on creating a profile, I also gained more confidence in myself and learned how to present and sell myself better. This all motivated me to keep going and to put more effort into the job search, send more applications, go to job-fairs, etc. It also helped a lot to have support in regards to correcting and formulating the cover letters. Before it would take me a week to write an application and have it corrected by someone. After working on my ‘Bewerbungsmappe’ with my trainer, and having a good template, I could send out more applications more quickly.
On a more practical note, I think that having a program like this on my CV after a gap over a year helped me get more invitations to interviews, and ultimately my job!
Online application for the BeuthBonus Programm is possible throughout the year. It starts in December/January and in July. Admission requirements are a university degree and good German skills (not less than B2-Leven as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Courses are free of charge.
The BeuthBonus Programm is part of the federal Programm “Integration durch Qualifizierung“, which aims at the improvement of the work integration of migrants.
Also on our blog: Also read Darlan’s Guest Commentary: How I got an open-ended contract: My job in Germany – A Brazilian’s Story. He also wrote about his long path until he obtained the work permit. You want to know more about BeuthBomus? Read our first post about the Programm.
This post is also available in: Deutsch