Job Discussion Forums

[lmkidd]

I'm fluent in English and German - American, but grew up in Germany. After graduating from high school, I went to America to go to college. I graduate in May with an ESL teacher license and am hoping to go back to Germany and find some kind of ESL job with kids. I have a German visa that does not expire ... so getting a visa is not a problem. Does anyone have any tips of how to find a job?

[smoofy]

The yellow pages are a good start!

[spiral78]

There's quite a lot of stuff on the thread currently from people who are not yet in Germany and have no serious grasp of the situation. I would suggest that, with your credentials, you should likely try both the national school system and international schools. You will find lists of international schools on the internet, but openings are not rampant.

There are US military basis still operating, but they are dwindling seriously, and I think it's unlikely that there are many openings through them at the current time.

The general info for European universities and private language schools is that you need to be here, on the ground, to land a decent position. With the visa, you'll have no serious problems, though the pay in Germany is generally not the greatest.

Beware of private language schools that will hire from abroad. While it's certainly not 100% the case, a school that has to advertise/hire from abroad is often a school that's had problems - and teachers locally based know this.

The private school (and other) job markets in Europe are substantially different from the market in Asia, and many other parts of the world. There is an abundance of teachers here. While there are always jobs to be found, employers are not going begging for native speakers and filling up jobs with locals in the face of the lack.

If you've the funds (and, even better, contacts) to come to Germany and do your job search here, you'll be best off. At worst, you'll find some opening-level stuff through private language centres, and will need to work your way into better-paid and more permanent positions in universities or international schools or US/NATO bases.

[spiral78]

Personally, I'd skip the yellow pages.

[SaraLF]

I live in Germany and there are jobs here for English teachers. Just pick what city you'd like to live in and then search the internet for language schools (sprachschule). Some schools like Berlitz are always hiring but they don't pay as well as other language schools.

Cities like Munich are very pricey, so even if you find job openings also check how much the average rents are. It's better if you don't live alone, since you speak German it shouldn't be hard to find someone looking for a room mate. You should know that when renting an apartment it is usually necessary to buy shares in the company that owns the building and pay a real estate agent. This can range from several hundred to several thousand E. East Germany is cheaper to live in but not as chick. I know several language schools in Dresden are hiring.

Also the US government is always posting jobs online in Germany. The only downside is that they aren't in the big cities like Berlin; usually they're for small towns outside of Frankfurt. They have jobs for every skill level, from basic office work to 60k specialists.

Now the hard part is that you must get on a plane and come to Germany and start applying for jobs. If you don�t know anyone it can be hard to get started. Many people are afraid to do that by themselves.