Experience of moving to work as a programmer in Berlin (part 2)
Good day! In the first part I talked about how I got a visa and I was looking for housing, and in this one I’ll tell you how to find work in Germany and how I did it. Looking ahead, I would say that in Berlin it took me 10 days to get the first offer, which I eventually accepted. But preparations were, of course, longer.
I began to prepare more in Russia. Since I didn’t actually have experience as a programmer, I decided that I needed to “practice on cats” and be like an interview with Moscow companies. I think it gave me a lot in terms of self-confidence. Immediately you realize that you need to answer, what tasks you will most likely receive, how you need to correct the resume. The most awkward question was: “Why did you work as a department head, and now you want a simple programmer?” But otherwise, everything was fine, except that I failed miserably at the first few interviews. As a result, from the end of July to the middle of August, I visited 10-12 interviews and even received a job offer. But the main results for me were a polished resume, a catchy HR eye, and also the confidence that I could pass the interview for a programmer position.
Of course, if you are a programmer with good experience, then you do not need this step. But if you have never felt confident in the interviews, I highly recommend practicing before the trip. You still do not lose anything.
Usually in materials about moving to Germany they write about the sites monster.de and XING, but I somehow did not go with them. I honestly tried, but did not get much feedback.
')
Linkedin
A much greater effect was on LinkedIn’s profile, which I focused on.
By the method of successive approximation, I brought him to the state of light sexuality. At least the lack of attention from HR is not even now. In addition, six months after the move, I needed to change jobs, and this was done in 2 weeks. With that, I was still counting on a noticeable increase in salary.
In general, I recommend. If you experience problems with self-completion, here is the link to my profile. Take, change the points and buzzwords on your own so that in the end the letters get about the same.
Let me explain a few points:
In general, the standard agile. Short iteration, checking on clients, making changes.
Summary in Germany is a formal thing, but necessary. The standard is a 2 page document. Probably in German. But since we are looking for an English-speaking company, we will have a summary in English.
Actually, in order to save words, I’ll bring my resume as a reference blank again. In combination with the tips from www.careercup.com this will give you a sufficient minimum to write your own, suitable for German standards.
Around the middle of August, I began to respond to vacancies in Berlin. I can not say that employers willingly answered. Agencies did not respond at all. However, a week later I indicated my Berlin residence and it became more cheerful. Over the past two weeks in Russia, I responded to two dozen vacancies and I was able to communicate with two HR. One lady was very nice and said that if I was in Berlin, they would not mind talking to me personally. She also told me the apartment search site wg-gesucht.de (you know him from the first part)
Sources of jobs that I used:
Plus now I would add:
I must say that at that moment I did not have a definite plan of action. I had no acquaintances in Berlin, and I didn’t know how things were working there. I was not sure that I would be able to find a job and choose between two options:
However, at this moment my wife received confirmation that the Berlin University of Higher Education is accepting her to study. So, in a sense, I had no choice. So I bought a ticket and flew.
After solving the housing issue, I could focus only on finding a job. To the search channels, which I voiced above, were added trips to various start-up conferences, meetup and hackatlon.
In Berlin, such things are held almost every day, and at the same time in several places. For the search, I used these resources:
I managed to attend a relatively large Start-up Safary event and practice self-presentation skills. And then I got to another great event - HackerX, the format of which is worth mentioning in more detail:
The whole action is like a speed dating party, when the girls sit at the tables, and the young people sit down at their tables for 5 minutes and try to interest them with their persona. Only instead of girls - employers, and instead of young people ... young people in search of work. This format allows you to kill several birds with one stone:
By the way, on March 29 and 31 such an event is planned in Berlin. So, you can still have time. Developers get on this event by invite.
But even if you miss, other conferences and meetups will be enough to gather the necessary contacts.
Just after HackerX, I had 5-6 responses, which I decided to focus on. Of these, after the first rounds, all the companies but two fell off. I must say that the tasks and format of the interview vary quite a lot. Someone is more interested in soft-skills, someone prefers to trust codility, but, in general, at interviews is about the same as in Moscow. Only in English.
One company quickly offered me an offer, and in another I went through “all the circles of hell”, including half a day's trial work, but in the end they didn’t invite me.
As a result, on September 16, I had an offer of 39k (which means 39,000 euros a year before taxes) for a front-end developer. Frankly speaking, if you are a good developer, this will not inspire you. However, I accepted this offer based on the following considerations:
I am sure that if you are a good specialist, you can immediately get better conditions than I received. But anyway, I advise you to start not to harbor and give in finance. After six months, you will be able to return to the money issue, when you have already processed all the papers. At the first stage, your main task is to get a contract as quickly as possible. This should be a priority.
Finally, I'll touch on the paperwork issues.
Under this link you can find a list of documents required for submitting documents in Berlin, as well as the necessary forms to fill out.
Mainly:
There is also a link by which you can enroll for the service (look for Make an appointment). It is better to sign up much in advance so as not to wait a month after you have signed a contract. See more details in the FAQ (ABH) . If Termin cannot be found for the near future, go to the opening, take the ticket and try to hand over the documents in the queue.
In Germany, compulsory medical insurance, your employer will deduct it. In order not to break your head, in the beginning choose a large state company. Later you will have time to change it if you want. Many people choose AOK, I chose DAK. Chose from reviews on the Internet.
After I signed the contract, I went to the insurance office, asked for an English-speaking manager and handed myself to him (or rather, her). As far as I remember, you need to have a passport, a contract and registration. Also ask the manager to give you a paper that you are now in their list. This paper you need when applying for a job. A few days later, you will receive your insurance plastic card in the mail, which you will use when going to the doctors. Insurance will apply not only to you, but also to your wife and children. His wife will also need to go to the insurance with registration, transfer of marriage certificate and passport.
For the tax class is best to go to Finanzamt at the place of residence. If you, for example, move with your wife, who will not work the first time, then it is more profitable for you to take the tax classes 3/5. We did this: when my wife arrived and registered, we went together to Finanzamt, we approached the woman in a live queue and explained the situation. She gave us papers stating that I have 3 class, and my wife has 5. I took this paper to work. Read more in the FAQ (Taxes) .
There is no need to go anywhere behind the social number. At some point, he himself comes in the mail. After he comes, a copy of this certificate will need to be attributed to the employer.
On this in general, that's all. I hope this material will help those who are thinking about moving to Germany, but did not know where to start. As you can see, if you act in stages and in the correct sequence, this task is within the powers of a “simple Russian programmer.” The main thing - the desire and faith in their own strength. For those who decide to repeat my path, I wish good luck and ... welcome to Germany!
Ps. In the first part, I promised the timeline of my actions. Once promised, I fulfill.
May 30 received a calculation at work in Moscow
June 10, applied for a visa
June 16, received a visa
4-15 july vacation
July 21 began to look for work in Moscow
August 14, began to look for work in Berlin
August 23 bought a ticket
September 1 flew to Berlin
September 2 agreed on an apartment
September 4 signed a rental contract
Registered on September 5
September 16 received an offer
September 19 agreed to the offer
September 22 signed a contract and applied for Blaue Karte
October 1 went to work
UPDATE (Jan 20 12:31): There are a lot of questions in the comments (including those that are not resolved) right from the quarry. I will try to answer everything, but I cannot promise that I will do it right away) Be patient.
And one more little remark. I wrote this text as a HOWTO for those who want to move. I'm not interested in discussing the topic “Germany is better / worse than Russia”. This question is purely individual. Let's try to focus on the technology of moving, and not to prove to each other where it is better to live.
Preliminary preparation
I began to prepare more in Russia. Since I didn’t actually have experience as a programmer, I decided that I needed to “practice on cats” and be like an interview with Moscow companies. I think it gave me a lot in terms of self-confidence. Immediately you realize that you need to answer, what tasks you will most likely receive, how you need to correct the resume. The most awkward question was: “Why did you work as a department head, and now you want a simple programmer?” But otherwise, everything was fine, except that I failed miserably at the first few interviews. As a result, from the end of July to the middle of August, I visited 10-12 interviews and even received a job offer. But the main results for me were a polished resume, a catchy HR eye, and also the confidence that I could pass the interview for a programmer position.
Of course, if you are a programmer with good experience, then you do not need this step. But if you have never felt confident in the interviews, I highly recommend practicing before the trip. You still do not lose anything.
Linkedin Summary and Profile
Usually in materials about moving to Germany they write about the sites monster.de and XING, but I somehow did not go with them. I honestly tried, but did not get much feedback.
')
A much greater effect was on LinkedIn’s profile, which I focused on.
By the method of successive approximation, I brought him to the state of light sexuality. At least the lack of attention from HR is not even now. In addition, six months after the move, I needed to change jobs, and this was done in 2 weeks. With that, I was still counting on a noticeable increase in salary.
In general, I recommend. If you experience problems with self-completion, here is the link to my profile. Take, change the points and buzzwords on your own so that in the end the letters get about the same.
Let me explain a few points:
- Write only the truth.
- Do not be shy.
- HR are looking for buzzwords, because they still do not understand what is behind these words. Take care of HR).
- Do not write “performed duties and worked for three years.” Write about what you are proud of and what you are happy to talk about in an interview.
- Do not spend a lot of time on the first version. All the same, perfect will not work.
In general, the standard agile. Short iteration, checking on clients, making changes.
Summary
Summary in Germany is a formal thing, but necessary. The standard is a 2 page document. Probably in German. But since we are looking for an English-speaking company, we will have a summary in English.
Actually, in order to save words, I’ll bring my resume as a reference blank again. In combination with the tips from www.careercup.com this will give you a sufficient minimum to write your own, suitable for German standards.
Job search remotely
Around the middle of August, I began to respond to vacancies in Berlin. I can not say that employers willingly answered. Agencies did not respond at all. However, a week later I indicated my Berlin residence and it became more cheerful. Over the past two weeks in Russia, I responded to two dozen vacancies and I was able to communicate with two HR. One lady was very nice and said that if I was in Berlin, they would not mind talking to me personally. She also told me the apartment search site wg-gesucht.de (you know him from the first part)
Sources of jobs that I used:
- Berlinstartupjobs
- I was looking for companies based in Berlin and made a request from them on their websites.
Plus now I would add:
- The jobs section on stackoverflow.com
- Berlin IT Group on Facebook. My alaverdi guys, they specifically identified the post for the neophytes of the Berlin labor market.
I must say that at that moment I did not have a definite plan of action. I had no acquaintances in Berlin, and I didn’t know how things were working there. I was not sure that I would be able to find a job and choose between two options:
- Act more radically and go to Berlin, sort it out on the spot.
- Still, get a job in Moscow to gain programming experience.
However, at this moment my wife received confirmation that the Berlin University of Higher Education is accepting her to study. So, in a sense, I had no choice. So I bought a ticket and flew.
In place
After solving the housing issue, I could focus only on finding a job. To the search channels, which I voiced above, were added trips to various start-up conferences, meetup and hackatlon.
activity
In Berlin, such things are held almost every day, and at the same time in several places. For the search, I used these resources:
I managed to attend a relatively large Start-up Safary event and practice self-presentation skills. And then I got to another great event - HackerX, the format of which is worth mentioning in more detail:
The whole action is like a speed dating party, when the girls sit at the tables, and the young people sit down at their tables for 5 minutes and try to interest them with their persona. Only instead of girls - employers, and instead of young people ... young people in search of work. This format allows you to kill several birds with one stone:
- Distribute your resume to about 20 companies and pass a short interview with about 10 of them.
- Hone your presentation. After 3-4 rounds you can tell all the most important things about yourself in one minute.
- Make acquaintance with other developers.
- In the end, free to eat pizza, drink beer and get a lot of fun.
By the way, on March 29 and 31 such an event is planned in Berlin. So, you can still have time. Developers get on this event by invite.
But even if you miss, other conferences and meetups will be enough to gather the necessary contacts.
Interview and Offer
Just after HackerX, I had 5-6 responses, which I decided to focus on. Of these, after the first rounds, all the companies but two fell off. I must say that the tasks and format of the interview vary quite a lot. Someone is more interested in soft-skills, someone prefers to trust codility, but, in general, at interviews is about the same as in Moscow. Only in English.
One company quickly offered me an offer, and in another I went through “all the circles of hell”, including half a day's trial work, but in the end they didn’t invite me.
As a result, on September 16, I had an offer of 39k (which means 39,000 euros a year before taxes) for a front-end developer. Frankly speaking, if you are a good developer, this will not inspire you. However, I accepted this offer based on the following considerations:
- At that time I was not a good developer.
- If I’m a good developer, after completing the paperwork and the adaptation period, the company will either have to offer me a lot of money, or I will just find another job.
- I can do another round of collecting feedback and interview interviews. For example, in about a month I will be offered a job in a stable company, thousands for 43-44. For the money it will be the same, but there is a risk to fly.
- I had a Termin in ABH (Ausländerbehörde - Office for Foreigners) on September 22. Everything just fit well.
I am sure that if you are a good specialist, you can immediately get better conditions than I received. But anyway, I advise you to start not to harbor and give in finance. After six months, you will be able to return to the money issue, when you have already processed all the papers. At the first stage, your main task is to get a contract as quickly as possible. This should be a priority.
Paperwork
Finally, I'll touch on the paperwork issues.
Documents on Blaue Karte
Under this link you can find a list of documents required for submitting documents in Berlin, as well as the necessary forms to fill out.
Mainly:
- the contract
- Certificate of Registration in Berlin
- Translated diploma
There is also a link by which you can enroll for the service (look for Make an appointment). It is better to sign up much in advance so as not to wait a month after you have signed a contract. See more details in the FAQ (ABH) . If Termin cannot be found for the near future, go to the opening, take the ticket and try to hand over the documents in the queue.
Insurance
In Germany, compulsory medical insurance, your employer will deduct it. In order not to break your head, in the beginning choose a large state company. Later you will have time to change it if you want. Many people choose AOK, I chose DAK. Chose from reviews on the Internet.
After I signed the contract, I went to the insurance office, asked for an English-speaking manager and handed myself to him (or rather, her). As far as I remember, you need to have a passport, a contract and registration. Also ask the manager to give you a paper that you are now in their list. This paper you need when applying for a job. A few days later, you will receive your insurance plastic card in the mail, which you will use when going to the doctors. Insurance will apply not only to you, but also to your wife and children. His wife will also need to go to the insurance with registration, transfer of marriage certificate and passport.
Tax class
For the tax class is best to go to Finanzamt at the place of residence. If you, for example, move with your wife, who will not work the first time, then it is more profitable for you to take the tax classes 3/5. We did this: when my wife arrived and registered, we went together to Finanzamt, we approached the woman in a live queue and explained the situation. She gave us papers stating that I have 3 class, and my wife has 5. I took this paper to work. Read more in the FAQ (Taxes) .
Social Number (Identifikationsnummer)
There is no need to go anywhere behind the social number. At some point, he himself comes in the mail. After he comes, a copy of this certificate will need to be attributed to the employer.
Afterword
On this in general, that's all. I hope this material will help those who are thinking about moving to Germany, but did not know where to start. As you can see, if you act in stages and in the correct sequence, this task is within the powers of a “simple Russian programmer.” The main thing - the desire and faith in their own strength. For those who decide to repeat my path, I wish good luck and ... welcome to Germany!
Ps. In the first part, I promised the timeline of my actions. Once promised, I fulfill.
Timeline
May 30 received a calculation at work in Moscow
June 10, applied for a visa
June 16, received a visa
4-15 july vacation
July 21 began to look for work in Moscow
August 14, began to look for work in Berlin
August 23 bought a ticket
September 1 flew to Berlin
September 2 agreed on an apartment
September 4 signed a rental contract
Registered on September 5
September 16 received an offer
September 19 agreed to the offer
September 22 signed a contract and applied for Blaue Karte
October 1 went to work
UPDATE (Jan 20 12:31): There are a lot of questions in the comments (including those that are not resolved) right from the quarry. I will try to answer everything, but I cannot promise that I will do it right away) Be patient.
And one more little remark. I wrote this text as a HOWTO for those who want to move. I'm not interested in discussing the topic “Germany is better / worse than Russia”. This question is purely individual. Let's try to focus on the technology of moving, and not to prove to each other where it is better to live.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/298016/
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