1. Living & Working in Germany
- Opportunities in the ICT Sector -
Barcelona, 16./17. November 2012
Welcome to Germany!

2. Agenda
ZAV – The International Placement Services of the German
Federal Employment Agency
Some facts about Germany
German labour market
The labour market for IT-Specialists
Access to German labour market
Salaries and deductions
Looking for jobs in Germany
The application process
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3. ZAV – Our Services for Jobseekers
The International Placement Services (ZAV)
EURES Germany
Provides services for:
jobseekers from abroad
German employers
Our responsibilities include:
Information and advice about the German labour market and
employment opportunities
Placement for jobseekers from abroad (only selected professions)
Specific recruitment events in country of origin
Consulting for foreign graduates of German universities
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4. Some Facts about Germany
Surface area: 357.000 km²
Population: 82.6 million
 ~ 15 mill. with a migration background
Capital: Berlin
16 Federal States
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5. The German Labour Market
Unemployment rates in
October 2012:
Germany: 6,5 %
 Western States: 5,6 %
 Eastern States: 9,8 %
number of unemployed persons:
2.753.354
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6. The German Labour Market: Where is the Demand right now?
Labour shortage mainly in the following technical occupations:
 Engineers in mechanical engineering and in the automotive sector
 Engineers in mechatronics and electronics
 Engineers in technical research & development (R&D)
 Engineers in construction departments including model making
 Engineers in metal construction and in welding engineering
 Experts in computer science, SW-development/programming
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7. The Labour Market for IT-Specialists
Demographic changes (employees 55 years and older - in 1.000)
People retired in:
600
Because of retirements 2008-2017
546
Germany will need:
509 2018-2027
500 169.000 IT-Experts 2028-2037
455
in the years 2008 - 2017 438
406
400 384
311.000 in 2018 - 2027
339 346
406.000 in 2028 - 2037 327
311
300 295
200 194 195
169 175
140
124 129
118
108
100
63 67 59
48
39 31
17
0
Natural Latheoperat. Machinebuild., Doctors, IT-Specialists Engineers Nurses etc. social Teacher
Scientists Grinder maintenance Chemists Professions
Datenquelle: Statistisches Bundesamt
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8. The Labour Market for IT-Specialists
no general shortage in the Computer Science, Softwaredevelopment, IT-
ICT-Sector Consulting – June 2012 -
a shortage of experts in SW/HW-
and application development, Schleswig-Holstein
programming, consulting Hamburg
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
no need of IT-analysts/-sales, Bremen
network engineering Niedersachsen
Berlin
Brandenburg
shortage only in some regions Sachsen-Anhalt
(mainly in Bavaria and Nordrhein-Westfalen
Baden-Württemberg) Thüringen
Sachsen
a surplus of IT-Experts in Berlin, Hessen
Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt Rheinland-Pfalz
Saarland
Bayern
Baden-Württemberg
= real shortage (Period of a vacancy is at least 40% longer
than average period regarding all occupations and there are = signs for a real shortage
less than150 candidates per 100 registered job offers or
there are less candidates than job offers) = no shortage yet = no results indicated due to too few data
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9. The Labour Market for IT-Specialists
Most wanted skills:
C#, C, C++, Java/J2EE, JavaScript, JSP, Delphi, PHP,
HTML, CSS, XSL, .net, jQuery
SQL, MySQL, Oracle, MS-SQL
SW-design, SW-engineering, IT-testing, design and development
of testing methods (Hardware-in-the-Loop – HIL)
Automotive bus systems
(CAN, LIN, AUTOSAR, FleyRay, OSEK etc.)
SPS-Programming
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10. Access to the German Labour Market
Free access to the German labour market for citizens of EU/EEA
member states (except Bulgaria and Romania until 2014)
Members of third party countries (= anybody who is not an EU/EEA
citizen), who are interested to work in Germany, usually need a
residence permit including a work permit
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11. How much do I earn ? - Salaries in Germany
There is no general minimum wage regulation (exceptions for
special branches)
Wages depend on collective agreements (Tarifvertrag) which
exist for most sectors
Regional differences (East-West/North-South)
Wages: monthly salary (gross) – the net salary is lower
Talking about monthly salary means 12 month/year
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12. How much do I have to deduct from my Salary?
Social Security System:
Health Insurance 15,5 %
Unemployment Insurance 3,0 %
Pension 19,9 %
Long-Term Care Insurance 1,95 %
Work Accident Insurance paid by employer
Taxation
Income tax  14 % - 42 % (Depending on income and marital status)
Church tax  8 % - 9 % of income tax
Solidarity tax  5,5 % of income tax
Automatically deducted from the salary
Registration to the social insurance system is done by the employer
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13. IT-Engineer in the automotive sector (approx. 2 years work experience),
single, no kids, in NRW, tax class 1, 40h/week - Sample Salary Statement:
Month Year
Salary 3.583,33 € 43.000,- €
Social security contributions
Pension Plan (Rentenversicherung, -19,6 %) 351,17 € 4.214,04 €
Unempl. insurance (Arbeitslosenvers., - 3 %) 53,75 € 645,00 €
Health insurance (Krankenversicherung, - 15,5 %) 293,84 € 3.526,08 €
Long-term care insurance (Pflegevers., -2,2 %) 43,90 € 526,80 €
Total Social Contributions 742,66 € 8.911,92 €
Taxation
Solidarity tax (Soli-Abgabe) 34,86 € 418,27 €
Church tax (Kirchensteuer) 50,70 € 608,40 €
Income tax (Lohnsteuer) 633,75 € 7.605,00 €
Total Taxation 719,31 € 8.631,67 €
Salary after deductions 2.121,37 € 25.456,41 €
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14. How to find a job in Germany
Internet
 www.eures.europa.eu
 German Federal Employment agency
www.arbeitsagentur.de -> Jobbörse
(currently 767.634 vacancies registered)
 Company websites
 Specific websites for different branches
(see www.ba-auslandsvermittlung.de/deutschland)
Newspaper
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15. The Jobörse on www.arbeitsagentur.de
choose
language
Register/
Log in
Quicksearch/
advanded Search
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16. The Application Process: How to read a job offer
The offer at a first glance
Living and Working in… (region, town, city)
Requirements – all that is a must
Qualifications which can be an asset
My qualifications/experiences vs. the requirements
The aim: a congruence of 70%
Any additional qualifications you can offer
Are there any questions left after you read the job offer carefully?
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17. The Application Process: CV and cover letter –
Recommendations and No-Gos
Recipient of your application (name, address, position )
Structured design – uniform appearance
Your contact information – are you available any time?
Cover letter related to the requirements
Work experience when important for the future job
CV: No photo from your last vacation
It does not make sense to spread a generalised application
Apply the way the employer has indicated
! Don‘t waste the employer‘s time by providing unnecessary information !
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18. Useful Links
online application training
http://www.berufe.tv/BA/weitereFilme/?familyID=1000027&fa
mily=Bewerbungstraining
online application training for academics
https://lernboerse.arbeitsagentur.de/aktiv/media/akademiker/
101005_bewerbungstraining/index.htm
www.bewerbungsdschungel.de
www.europass-info.de (CV)
Living and working in Germany:
http://www.make-it-in-germany.com
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19. Contact
Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung
Internationaler Personalservice
Villemombler Str. 76
53123 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 713-1313
e-mail: workingermany@arbeitsagentur.de
www.zav.de
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20. Living and Working in Germany
Thank you for your attention!