working in Berlin with no German

jellybeans

Hi there anyone know if there is any possibility of working in Berlin with no German? I have 3 months off during the summer and would like to move to Berlin. Does anyone have any advice for me thanks in advance

biko

Try mailing Irish bars there and ask for work. I know Irish/English/Scottish bars in other countries where staff will only speak English and customers don't mind much.

http://www.berlinfo.com/Freetime/Food-Drink/bars/irishpubs/index.htm

Popel

Sorry to rain on your parade, but you have little to no chance of that working out. Irish pubs in Berlin always have their full staff quota organised well before the summer season begins, and they expect a good level of German, as many germans also visit their establishments. You will very easily get call-centre work, but they often either pay terribly, or don´t pay until three to six months later...plus they´re soul-destroying.

However!! Berlin is an EXTREMELY cheap city to live in, probably about the cheapest in the western world, so if you worked up about one and a half thousand you could easily afford a three month holiday with all the trimmings, once you find yourself a good, normal (that is to say c.240euro a month) room in an apartment.

jellybeans

really is that ex bills and rent etc? I could totally afford 1,500 but are you sure you could live on that for 3 months? I can't even survive on that for 1 month here. Realisticaly would it not be more like 1,500 a month? also if I was to go on my own would it be hard to meet people?

Popel

I live in Berlin now, but last summer i also spent three months here, on that much money. if you aren´t sure that that will work, just bring 2000, or 2500, if it´s left over at teh end, there´s been no harm done.

that 240euro is per month and should include bills, unless you´re getting ripped off. it´s the common thing here to have all bills included in a price given. the only thing is it could take a bit of time to find a room, they like to meet potential people and then have a little think about it, so line up lots of appointments before you arrive.

On jobs: there are very few. there´s a 21% unemployment rate here, so i wouldn´t bet on getting one, unless, as i said, in a call centre.

Meeting people shouldn´t be a problem. Check out Ex-berliner or Tip, both magazines (the first one is in English) and there are loads of groups set up, OR go to craigs list berlin. It´s full of americans, but will help you out a lot.

jellybeans

thats great, thanks a mil for your help you have made my day. Do you mind me asking do you speak German?

Aura

Popel wrote:

I live in Berlin now, but last summer i also spent three months here, on that much money. if you aren´t sure that that will work, just bring 2000, or 2500, if it´s left over at teh end, there´s been no harm done.

that 240euro is per month and should include bills, unless you´re getting ripped off. it´s the common thing here to have all bills included in a price given. the only thing is it could take a bit of time to find a room, they like to meet potential people and then have a little think about it, so line up lots of appointments before you arrive.

On jobs: there are very few. there´s a 21% unemployment rate here, so i wouldn´t bet on getting one, unless, as i said, in a call centre.

Meeting people shouldn´t be a problem. Check out Ex-berliner or Tip, both magazines (the first one is in English) and there are loads of groups set up, OR go to craigs list berlin. It´s full of americans, but will help you out a lot.

What's the job market like over there at the moment for those with German? Few years admin etc under the belt.
Love Berlin and would love to live there and have been looking at buying there.

BuffyBot

Off to the Abroad forum with you.

jellybeans

I just had a look on craigslist and the apartments are 325 per week for a 1 bed!!!! not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, is there a better site like Irelands daft.ie? also what about TEFL teachers, do they get work over there during the summer?

jellybeans

Aura wrote:

What's the job market like over there at the moment for those with German? Few years admin etc under the belt.
Love Berlin and would love to live there and have been looking at buying there.

hey Aura Im going to ask you a few questions if you don't mind. You say you were going to buy over there, do you know people there? Im just asking coz I was thinking of going over in the summer for a couple of months but I would be going over there on my own, advice from someone in the same position would be good or some words of encouragement that it's not a completely daft idea!

Popel

sorry it took a while to get back to you. Craig´s list IS catering for foreigners in Berlin, and apartments there are really offered for the gullible culture-tourist market. Try www.studentin-wg.de for deals that students going to berlin universities use. though that will be more helpful closer to the time, as students vacate premises in summertime. I had leaving cert german when i came here, and that was very very rusty, though i´ve picked up a lot along the way. There´s a group that i go to here where lots of foreigners from all sorts of countries meet to practise german (from extra-basic level to relatively good) once a week, of course there also loads of other groups and ways to meet people: I´ve even met somebody to play hurling with here.

Feel free to contact me, or PM me, I´ve just finished my undergraduate, so i´m probably in a similar age-bracket, and i´m still new enough living here (only since june) that i have all the worries and anxieties of coming here fresh enough in my head. My friend and i came here with nothing organised last summer, and within 9 days had a 30msquare room in a huge, central apartment, for 150each. And friends that i´ve met here are renting for 240, and even 200 per month, also in good locations. I´ll keep an eye out for more, good websites. Craigslist i would recommend more for getting furniture/finding english-speaking groups etc.

Popel

Oh, and Aura, if you have good German and are a fluent english speaker, a contact i have in the Arbeitsamt told me that there is a huuuuge gap in the market, and loads of companies looking to find people like you. And good jobs too! It does take a little while, but that´s the same anywhere. I personally just need to improve my professional-german before i feel confident enough to apply to many places of that sort. There is a lot of unemployment, but Berlin is almost entirely a working-class city, with no real middle-class to speak of, so these highly qualified (which good native english, with german, is) jobs aren´t really included in those statistics.

jellybeans

Popel wrote:

sorry it took a while to get back to you. Craig´s list IS catering for foreigners in Berlin, and apartments there are really offered for the gullible culture-tourist market. Try www.studentin-wg.de for deals that students going to berlin universities use. though that will be more helpful closer to the time, as students vacate premises in summertime. I had leaving cert german when i came here, and that was very very rusty, though i´ve picked up a lot along the way. There´s a group that i go to here where lots of foreigners from all sorts of countries meet to practise german (from extra-basic level to relatively good) once a week, of course there also loads of other groups and ways to meet people: I´ve even met somebody to play hurling with here.

Feel free to contact me, or PM me, I´ve just finished my undergraduate, so i´m probably in a similar age-bracket, and i´m still new enough living here (only since june) that i have all the worries and anxieties of coming here fresh enough in my head. My friend and i came here with nothing organised last summer, and within 9 days had a 30msquare room in a huge, central apartment, for 150each. And friends that i´ve met here are renting for 240, and even 200 per month, also in good locations. I´ll keep an eye out for more, good websites. Craigslist i would recommend more for getting furniture/finding english-speaking groups etc.

Hi thanks so much you have been a huge help to me, I probably wouldn't head over till the summer which I know is a long way off but I just wanted to get an idea. I bought an apartment last year and had a brainwave to put up my room for a room-swap on craigslis - genious! I probably won't hear anything now but you never know. I also emailed a TEFL school asking bout placements etc so I think I've done as much as I can for the time being. Im not sure if you have myspace but I'll PM my page, thanks again

Faith

Jellybean, if you bought an apartment, why don't you just rent that out for the summer? Rents in Ireland are bound to be higher than in Berlin.

jellybeans

Faith wrote:

Jellybean, if you bought an apartment, why don't you just rent that out for the summer? Rents in Ireland are bound to be higher than in Berlin.

well it's a two bed and I have a housemate so she will be here, anyway I have so much stuff I don't think I could handle the thoughts of moving it all out! moving my bedroom is bad enough. Im hoping I get a room swap on craigslist

jenizzle

I'm really hoping to do this too in the near future, but its disappointing to know that I probably wouldn't be able to continue my career in I.T. if I do go

But I love that city

jester77

jenizzle wrote: »

I'm really hoping to do this too in the near future, but its disappointing to know that I probably wouldn't be able to continue my career in I.T. if I do go

But I love that city

Why not? IT is one of the better areas in Germany at the moment for jobs. You will hear of high unemployment but a lot of those that are unemployed are either poorly educated or have no skills. There are a lot of international companies based in Germany and they have to work through English with their international colleagues so this helps if your German is not up to scratch!

Popel

I´d say you´d have no problem at all getting a good job in IT in Germany. Nearly all of the cities in the old ´West´ are hugely industrialised. And I´d say do try in Berlin, but my opinion and advice would be to get prepared for not finding a job in Berlin, or not finding one easily anyway. Berlin is really a world apart from the rest of Germany.

Aedh Baclamh

Popel, what sort of jobs are open to people with no German? Will it be extremely difficult to find any kind of employment just for a few months?

jenizzle

jester77 wrote: »

Why not? IT is one of the better areas in Germany at the moment for jobs. You will hear of high unemployment but a lot of those that are unemployed are either poorly educated or have no skills. There are a lot of international companies based in Germany and they have to work through English with their international colleagues so this helps if your German is not up to scratch!

as well as that though - finding international companies with bases in Berlin/ Germany is hard to do, then trying to find I.T. vacancies.

Any websites you recommend for english speaking jobs?? I've tried loooads, and have applied to a few jobs, but no luck

Afuera

jenizzle wrote: »

Any websites you recommend for english speaking jobs?? I've tried loooads, and have applied to a few jobs, but no luck

http://berlin.craigslist.org/ might be worth checking out as it's very internationally focused.