3 ms·

>- apartment. Just show them your software-engineer-who-only-speaks-english payroll (or contract if you don't have a payroll yet) and you'll probably become the

>- apartment. Just show them your software-engineer-who-only-speaks-english payroll (or contract if you don't have a payroll yet) and you'll probably become their most promising applicant That's not entirely accurate and YMMV. One, unless you work for a FANG or a well funded scale-up, not everyone moving to Germany on a dev job will be making super high wages, which is what's needed to stand out at an apartment visit, as other more traditional skilled professions in German big cities also make good money, and high-paying dev jobs are difficult to land. And two, usually German landlords tend to prefer a local on a stable, if average paid government job (teacher, doctor, police officer, notary, social worker, birocrat, etc.) than an foreign IT worker on higher wage who just arrived in the country, doesn't speak German, has no rental/employment/credit history yet, and hasn't passed his probation period yet, and all he has is an employment contract with a large number on it.

jeroenhd 4y ago
For what it's worth, the companies seeking foreign employment either want dirt cheap labour (in which case you won't find an appartement any time soon) or are very big, very rich companies that do offer significant wages. As far as I can tell, Germany is rather in-looking when it comes to their highly skilled workforce so when you do get in, you get in at the top or all the way at the bottom. If you move to Germany before having found a job, you'll have to get those high wages and the fancy appartement that comes with it yourself. You probably won't, especially if you're coming from a country with extremely high wages for devs like the USA or to some extent the UK, and expect around the same amount of money. Social factors do play a role (it's easier to connect to someone who doesn't need you to switch to a foreign language just for them) but there is dedicated expat housing all around the world, for a price. Learning German and about German culture will definitely help your chances, both in securing a job and in everything else in Germany.

jeroenhd 4y ago

For what it's worth, the companies seeking foreign employment either want dirt cheap labour (in which case you won't find an appartement any time soon) or are very big, very rich companies that do offer significant wages. As far as I can tell, Germany is rather in-looking when it comes to their highly skilled workforce so when you do get in, you get in at the top or all the way at the bottom. If you move to Germany before having found a job, you'll have to get those high wages and the fancy appartement that comes with it yourself. You probably won't, especially if you're coming from a country with extremely high wages for devs like the USA or to some extent the UK, and expect around the same amount of money. Social factors do play a role (it's easier to connect to someone who doesn't need you to switch to a foreign language just for them) but there is dedicated expat housing all around the world, for a price. Learning German and about German culture will definitely help your chances, both in securing a job and in everything else in Germany.