Getting a job in Germany

Hi friends. I am interested is there anybody here who got a job or knows somebody who got a job in germany without a degree? I just started and i am thinking about applying for a job when i’m ready. Ty :slight_smile:

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I don’t know anyone but I always see loads of engineering jobs in Germany on Stack Overflow.

Hi @Stivis! Do you mean no IT related degree or no degree at all? I don’t have an IT related degree and am working as Software Developer anyway (in Berlin) and I’m still receiving job offers all the time. I have the feeling that many companies in Germany value the fact that you have at least a degree, but if you can show that you have an alternative education (such as FCC, Udacity, Coursera etc… ) and some projects or certificates they can give you a try.

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Hi @Stivis,

I’m an American living in Germany and I definitely know friends without degrees in Computer Science, etc. who have gotten coding jobs. I also have been to a few tech meetups where people working in the field assured me you do not need a degree.

Are you an EU citizen? If not getting a visa is also something you need to consider. It’s not so hard to get a freelance visa, but if you are a Non-EU citizen wanting a full time job with benefits, any company will need to prove that they have a good reason to hire you instead of a German, or that there is a lack of qualified Germans in that field hence why they need to look elsewhere. If you’re a native English speaker the easiest argument to make is that they need a native speaker for some reason.

A lot of people freelance for 3 years, after which your visa opens up allowing you to do any job without applying for permission (that’s what I did).

There’s this thing called a “Blue Card” here though, that’s especially easy for people in tech to get. However, for that I think you would need to prove your qualification somehow, and that would be difficult without some type of formal qualification or significant work experience.

Feel free to get in touch if you have more questions. I don’t really work in tech at the moment, but I know a lot about visas and life here (specifically in Berlin)!

Best,

Nicole

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I am an EU citizen, and i already live in Germany…and i enrolled in FCC about 15 days ago, I think i will start to apply for job positions in the next few months. as soon as i am finished with front-end section and when i get the certificate.

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Hey Stivis, don’t know if you will read this, but how did it go? Did you get a dev job?

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Hi. I am still active member of FCC. I started new job last month on 21. So today is exactly one month. I got role of fullstack junior developer in Essen. So yeah, you can get the IT job in Germany without degree :slight_smile:

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Awesome! Congratulations!
Is very encouraging to hear another success story from a self-taught programmer.

I will be back to Europe after next summer and I don’t have a CS degree or work experience in the field (I come from other field, with other Bsc. Degree) So I hope I can make the jump also.

Cheers!

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How did you actually get the job? Did you refer to projects that you have worked on? What did you put into your CV ?
Would be great to hear. I am 26, just started my journey and i want to start an apprenticeship but so far it`s not working for me.

I created an account on the xing.com
It is similar to linkedin. And one day i just got message from one company they are looking for four junior developers. I answered to their email and aranged meeting. I did interview really good. After that they gave me one task which i failed to do. At that point i thought i will not get the job… One day later i recieved a call and they told me i got the job. So you can say i was lucky. My advice is , create account on linkedin and xing. Code every day at least one hour and don’t wait to be ready for a job because you will never be ready

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Well thank you. To be more specific, did you include your freecodecamp degree in your cv?

I did not. But i worked in one startup as a trainee for 5 months so i think that was a huge helper. Did you finish FCC? If not where are you currently at

well i am at 21, but i re-did it. I was once at 97 or something but i was struggling, when i was trying to build my portfolio on codepen.io. Thats why i am redoing the lessons. its frustrating when you go through them and as soon as you are on a blank paper, everything fades away and there is nothing really in the back of my head. I applied for several apprenticeships but for now i couldnt even get into a job-interview. So my current state is learning.

I was also going through fcc. This is my 2nd time. Yeah , i think we will be in status of “learning” a looooooong time :slight_smile: and that is good

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You wouldn’t happen to have a lead on all those jobs in Berlin? I.e. as in what they require you to know. As an EU citizen I automatically have work and residence permit in Germany.

I want to move in Berlin. I’m from Ukraine, but now I live in Poland without work permission. How it work for German? I’m submitting an offer, then what? What procedure? Do they register me like that or do I need to do something?

Any of you guys know how to get a job in Germany for someone who lives in South East Asia?

I have 2 years of software work experience with a software engineering degree from a Canadian university. I have tried to apply to some job openings, but it does not seem to work out.

It depends on the position mostly. If you’re looking for a position as Front End Developer the usual trio HTML/CSS/JavaScript (eventually some framework would be beneficial as well). If you’re more into Backend Java is king (or queen? Who knows) here (even if you know other languages I suggest to learn it ) along with the Spring Framework . If you want to work with Machine Learning/Big Data, then Python,Spark, SQL and some ML theory is required.

Of course this is a rough generalisation, but I think that a beginner has more chances by choosing the most popular languages and tools. I was into Backend/Machine Learning and learnt Python and Java. But now my primary language is Scala :blush:

You can read the requirements for a sponsored work permit here:

https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/305304/en/

Here is a post about the process once you get the job offer below. This person is American, but once you have the offer I think a lot of the process is the same:

https://www.uberchord.com/blog/work-permit-berlin/

Good luck!

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Hello! Maybe do you know where i can get more information about blue card? I found a lot of in this page: https://www.bizbon.com/services-in-spain/spanish-eu-blue-card/ but it’s about blue card for Spain, but i need for Germany. Or maybe does not make any difference what country? Thanks for answer, I appreciate it.