Job Discussion Forums

[WakkaWakka]

Hello!
So I was wondering if anybody knew anything about the jobs at army bases in Germany (Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl, Ramstein, etc) for US civilians. I have a friend who just graduated college, with a goofy liberal arts major (music history/theory), and she wants to live and work in Germany for awhile, in this area. She's been applying to any position that she seems in the slightest bit qualified for but has been either rejected or simply not followed up with. She's been putting her applications in for the last month or two, I think. Anyway, I read about how the army is cutting down the size of their German bases, so do you think that they won't really be hiring anyone new right now? Does she have a chance of getting a job with them? Any suggestions about what might improve her chances?
Thanks for your help,
Wakka Wakka

[spiral78]

I applied for some few open positions a few years back on the bases in Germany. At the time, I had 5/6 years of experience teaching EFL, BEd., TEFL cert., and was just beginning coursework for my MA TESL/TEFL. I've also got security clearances, thanks to spouse's job.

I got nowhere - the problem with most of the bases is that the jobs most often go to spouses and other civilians with family or other connections on the base.

There just aren't that many openings, and, as you pointed out, there are fewer and fewer. I think your friend would need SERIOUS luck to find anything on a base - it's certainly not a wide-open job market.

[WakkaWakka]

I realize that this is an ESL site, so this may be off-topic or something, but what about non-ESL jobs? Like, any other sorts of positions in German bases? Or are these equally impossible to get without having a spouse/military connection?

Thanks for your reply, spiral!

[spiral78]

I couldn't say from direct experience, not having tried for any other kinds of positions. But, honestly, I would be fairly sure that any position that can be filled by a native English speaker and not requiring specialist qualifcations would be rare, and usually filled by people with connections.

It's simply not easy for a non-EU citizen to find any legal work in Germany any more.

[scot47]

Hasve a look at the unemployment figures in Germany. Maybe you had not noticed but there is a recession on !

Combine that with an appreciation of the extent of anti-American feeling and I would say that you can predict what the chances are !