Experience of moving to Germany by the system administrator

On the Internet you can find a lot of articles relating mainly to programmers and their experience of moving to Germany, but there are almost no such about system administrators. At the same time, the work of the system administrator (and the search for it) has its own specifics, and besides, over the past six months I was able to step on a number of rakes, about which it would also be useful to know in advance. Actually, I would like to tell about this in this article.

I apologize for the fact that I publish in a not-so-relevant “State and IT”, because there is no more suitable hub at the moment, and when I tried to publish it in a sandbox on GeekTimes , I was asked to publish here.

Background and preparation for the move

If someone told me a year and a half ago that I would work in Germany, I would not believe him. I didn’t have such plans at that moment, and in general I was satisfied with the work. It all started with the fact that in the summer of 2013 I, rather for fun, sent a resume to the position of SRE at Google, managed to get to the face-to-face interview and fill it up. I liked the process itself, besides instilled in me self-confidence. Therefore, I decided to look for something in Europe where it would be easier for me to get the missing skills (including gaining experience in English). I was looking not so actively - most companies sent out just a CV, although a good cover letter would have to be drawn up for each job. As a basis for compiling a CV, I took the moderncv template for LaTeX. For a couple of months of searching (I started searching somewhere in March-April 2014), only about twenty companies responded (about 10% of all those to whom I sent my resume), most were in Germany.

I will try to summarize the results of interviews a bit, starting with the most unfortunate:
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• A very large part of those who didn’t answer anything at all or answered with a standard reply “We thought a lot, but your level of knowledge doesn’t meet our expectation,” often without even initial communication or a technical interview. Moreover, the CV often overlapped the requirements for a specific job, including the recommended ones. There was an overwhelming majority of them - about 90%.
• Slightly less numerous group - those who fell off after communicating with HR. Most of the questions were sent to clarify the summary, occasionally "rate your knowledge on a 10-point scale." For all the time of job search, oddly enough, only one company (one of the small ones) was asked to solve logical problems: “how many squares on a chessboard” and “type six liters of water having one vessel for 7 liters and one vessel for 4 liters ". From observations, if a company is large and starts asking to assess its skills in some technology, they pre-determine the scale (most often they say that 9-10 is the Ph.D associated with this field). Small ones, on the contrary, almost never tell what scale they mean. Companies that refuse to communicate with HR about 50% of the remaining.
• Those who refuse after one of the technical interviews. Refuse most often without explanation. At the same time, most companies are quite similar to the questions and it becomes frankly boring to answer the third interview. Unfortunately, the questions themselves under the NDA, but in general, good positions require not only knowledge of some technologies and more or less standard practices of building services, but also rather low-level things, ranging from simple TCP Handshake, HTTPS, and the differences between UDP and TCP , ending with the system call mechanism, file system device and hardware initialization. This is not to mention the basic knowledge of bash (almost everyone is asked to write something simple). There is probably another 50% of the remaining from the last time.
• A rather small group that can be called “inadequate supply”. For example, one fairly well-known, but not very large, the company said something in the spirit: “Oh, we talked to you about the post of system administrator, but we looked and according to the law of this country, we cannot take you to this position , let us go to us as a support for end users, work for two years, get a permanent residence permit and we will transfer you? By the way, the salary is less than 2,000 euros before taxes. ” At the same time, the phrase “I can think about it, and here is a list of additional questions for you” answered something that comes down to “if you think we doubt your motivation to work with us, therefore, we will not offer you”.
• A very small list of those who sent an adequate offer with a look and made a good impression.

At the last and dwell a little more. In fact, it turned out exactly two. One in Germany, which wants me "right now", and the second, it seems, wants, but under a new project over time. And although I liked the interview process in the second one much more (the questions are trivially more interesting), I decided that tit in the hands is preferable. And it was not a very good thing.

The company, on which I agreed, did not invite me to an in-person interview - all communication took place via Skype and in the form of tests. At the same time, in words, they promised to help in every way with the move, they answered in detail questions about the workplace, and so on, but later it turned out that for the first time they could not provide an apartment, they don’t give any material compensation, - filled out two pieces of paper on a visa and a list of sites where you can find more adequate information. But more on that later. At that moment it seemed to me that this is a good offer and I have already begun to prepare for the move itself.

Moving himself

The first thing was the process of exchanging signed contracts through DHL (first I had two signed copies, one of which I had to sign and send back) and the paperwork. I decided to go on the Blue Card program, immediately with my wife. Strange as it may seem, most people prefer to leave on their own, and then transport the family as “family reunion”. After a small assault on the embassy, ​​we managed to find out that you can leave immediately together - you just need to fill out a questionnaire for your wife, bring an apostilled marriage certificate and its notarized translation into German. Need to sign up together at the same time. From the peculiarities of filling out the questionnaire - as a means of livelihood, the wife pointed out “To the means of my husband”, and the receiving party was the company that provides me with work.

Directly in the process of moving, I made a few mistakes:

• I was not embarrassed that the company would compensate for the very minimum of expenses and plainly does not even help finding accommodation for the first time.
• With this company I didn’t have an in-person interview - there was a small testik, and two skype interviews, about an hour each. In general, to go and look at the situation with your own eyes is very important and useful for understanding what the company is and how the process is built.
• I was the first person from Russia, and although not the first to receive the Blue Card, but they made a mistake at almost every stage of the paperwork.
• One more rake was carefully planted by local HRs who did not say that the local tax has a tendency to be assigned to the fourth tax class. This class is beneficial only in cases where both spouses earn about the same money. In other cases, the one who receives more should take the 3rd class, and the second - the 5th. But unfortunately, HR said this after paying the first salary, and thanks to their help, I changed the tax class only after 3 months. Specifically, the jamb was that they gave me an outdated version of the form to replace the tax class, I had to look for a fresh version on my own. I fill out a piece of paper immediately upon arrival, I would get a normal salary, most likely from the very beginning.
• In the contract, the salary was indicated as 48000 euro / year, of which 80% was fixed, and 20% was an optional part. It is easy to calculate that 0.8 * 48000 = 38400. The problem is that in 2014 the minimum wage for the Blue Card is 37128, but it would be better to have 47,600 or more, since then no confirmation of education is needed, and this is extra time For checking. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ausländerbehörde) could not figure it out on their own, so they sent documents for an additional check, which took an additional couple of months. As a result, having arrived on August 4th, I received a Blue Card on my hands only on January 22nd, and at the time of additional waiting I was forced to pay 20 euro per person for additional paper. Later, after the approval of the Blue Card (somewhere in early December), managers in the company made sad eyes, remembered that under the contract they are obliged to pay me at least 80% of salary and squeezed 10%. Then the immediate superior, over a cup of coffee, said that initially they wanted to hold all 20, but he managed to persuade them not to become so impudent. When asked about the reasons, they did not answer anything intelligible, they said that they like the way I work, but they want to cut their salaries starting in January. By the way, from January 1, 2015, the minimum salary bracket is 37,752 euros per year, and the bar for which no qualification is required is 48,400. A small conclusion for the future - even if the company claims that the division of salary into mandatory and additional is the norm they do this to everyone - it is better to insist on the deletion of this item or refuse such a proposal. In this case, at least in Germany, it is normal to indicate the non-obligation of bonuses and other compensations.

Change jobs without losing your Blue Card

After the story of “you work well, but we will pay you 10% less,” I decided to look for another job, already targeting in Germany (and better in Berlin, not to bother with moving to another city, besides prices for accommodation here were already known). I began to look for somewhere in December, so the process was somewhat slowed down also because of the New Year and Christmas holidays. Although officially they are here for two days for Christmas, and for the new year it is generally only January 1st, but many Germans like to go on vacation - therefore, HR cannot be any interview from December 25th until around January 6th. By the way, the percentage of responses to resumes, when you already live in the country and have a work permit, is much more .

A review of the local market (by interviewing) showed that 48,000 a year is far from being the limit, you can find more and more without much effort (you can find a salary of about 50,000 without any problems within Berlin). But in the first two years on the Blue Card, although the work can be changed, you must first get permission. Somewhere in early January, I received an offer from a company that arranged for me. It remains to receive confirmation from the ministry. The process itself seemed very simple and fast - just to come and hand over the documents, but the reality as always made its own adjustments. Under the contract, during the 6-month probationary period, I must notify about the dismissal in two weeks, after the same - in three months. Therefore, I really wanted to get permission before the end of the probationary period. I passed the documents back in early January, and the probation period ended in February. Everything seemed to go smoothly, but as time went on, there was no answer from the ministry.

Ausländerbehörde itself is known for its strange behavior. There are employees who do not speak English out of principle, there are those who simply do not know English, there are also quite friendly people who are trying to help everyone they can. In this case, they often do not answer the phone. The new employer wanted to see me so much during his sane amount of time that he sent his HR to help me. And it was right, whenever possible you should always take with you someone who speaks German and can help you. As a result, it turned out that, first of all, since I received the application, I can quit in principle (the new employer agreed to compensate the days I spent without work waiting for permission), and all delays in making the decision are related to the fact that I I applied for a job change before I got a blue card on my hands and they had a dispute about whether I should take money for a new card (and reissue it) or not. By the way, they like to once again take money for issuing or re-issuing any piece of paper. Since they themselves could not solve it, they decided ... just to do nothing. After visiting the ministry together with a person who knows the laws, the problem was resolved in 10 minutes. So, we must continue to monitor every step, if there is the slightest suspicion that something went wrong - it is better to call or go again and find out everything.

Conclusion?

I hope this is the end of the story about finding a job in Germany. For all the development of the country, there are not so many large branches of IT companies here, although in Berlin there are just an incredible number of start-ups or near-start-up companies. True, a start-up is a company of 100 people, which has been operating in the market for the fourth year.

I hope this information will be useful to someone. Well, in conclusion, I repeat once again the conclusions that I made for myself:

• Be prepared for the fact that out of 100 companies 90 will not even answer, in 5 you will not pass an interview with HR, in two you will fill up a technical interview, one will send an inappropriate proposal and one will turn out to be normal.
• Try to go for a face-to-face interview (and the lack of it is a sign of a not-so-normal company) and take a closer look at the employees and working conditions. Chairs for 20 euros from Ikea can also tell a lot.
• Always check the offer on the adequacy of the conditions of universal norms. If there is any doubt, it is better to look for friends who have already left and ask how they have them, and sometimes it is better to refuse immediately in such cases, no matter how HRy would say that they are so accepted and everything is fine.
• Even if your employer helps you with a visa, it is better to check once again that everything is in order. Even if you are not the first in the company to whom they helped with the visa, this does not at all mean that the current HRs did it and that they will do everything without mistakes in your particular case. It is better to once again control the whole process and read about the experience of other such lucky ones.
• If it seems that the employer is greedy, most likely he is very greedy.
• Always write cover letters. I didn’t do it right away, but it greatly increases the chances of reaching communication with HR.
• When communicating with HR, one should never forget that only in large companies are technically literate people and the main thing is to convey to him the idea that you really fit the job description. And for this it is useful to put yourself in his place and try to understand what scale they use to assess knowledge.
• You should never refuse interviews - even if there is a feeling that the company is not suitable.
• You need to trust your intuition more. It's one thing when a company needs someone to become a system administrator, and completely different when you specifically need you and your experience.
• Always have a reserve of money, if, according to estimates, the move will cost 5,000 euros, take at least 6-6.5, certainly it will not be any worse.
• Even a negative experience is necessary and useful. Do not be afraid to change something in your life, it's easier than it seems.
• Do not look for work to leave, look for work to develop.

PS And another small estimate of the price of life, so as not to answer this question in the comments:

• Housing price: my furniture is 950 (from the new year 975) per month for 62 sq. M. m. two-room studio with furniture. Without furniture it is realistic to find, and far from the center, anything within 600 or around the center for 700-750, excluding the Internet and electricity (what else should +150 per month be given).
• Phone - I pay for the prepaid tariff of 10 euros per month, I get 200 minutes in Germany, 200 SMS, 200MB of LTE traffic (after 200MB, the speed is cut to 32 kbps). For +10 euros you can get unlimited phone calls and SMS and 500MB of traffic. Excess - 3 euros for 200MB.
• Home Internet - for about 30 euros you can find an unlimited tariff. Of the minuses - a contract for two years. This is a common practice.
• Transport - a travel card for all types of transport from the new year costs 80 euros per month. Gives the right to ride together in the evenings on weekdays and all weekends and holidays. There is a cheaper option, working from 10 am (and also giving +1 after 8 pm and on weekends + holidays), it costs about 65.
• Food - as in any city there are expensive and cheap places. In general, not very good quality pork at 5.5 euros per kg is normal, beef is good somewhere from 7. Chicken - 4.5-5. Fruits - very much depends on the type, even in winter, Spanish melons are sold for 2.5 euros per share (about 1 euro per kg comes out), while being as sweet as in summer. Watermelons during the peak season cost about 40 cents per kg, which is certainly more than in Russia, but quite tolerable. Potatoes - ~ 25 cents per kg, if you buy 4-5 kg ​​and local, and up to 4 euros per kg if you take something perverted. In general, only food costs about 500 euros per month, if you do not refuse anything, but do not go to restaurants.
• Lunch - 10 euros for a business lunch on average. There are places where for 5 you can eat, and there are where 15 is barely enough. The portions are always large.
• Restaurants - in different ways, there are expensive places where lamb skewers can be at a price of 16 euros per 250 gr., They are cheaper. There are a lot of small establishments for every taste. So for dinner check can be from 12 to 20 euros per person, depending on the location and appetites.
• Things worth buying in local IKEA or in Real. Technique - Amazon, known to many computeruniverse and hardwareversand.