Thinking of moving to Germany, but worried about the job situation? Wondering, if you’ll need to master every [Umlaut]¹ before you can earn a paycheck? And if there are enough offers?

Well, the short answer to the question is: Yes. Yes, there are lot of jobs for English speakers in Germany. But (and this is a big but), it absolutely depends on the industry, location, and how much German you can fake your way through.

What industries are best?

The classics. You won’t be surprised by any of these.

• Tech & IT – If you’re a programmer, data scientist, or anything remotely techy, congratulations! English is practically the default language in this field and there are lots of studios that speak English as a default.
• Start-ups – Cities like Berlin are full of international start-ups where the working language is English (and the dress code is “whatever you woke up in”).
• Finance & Consulting – Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, has plenty of multinational companies that hire English-speaking professionals.
• Teaching English – If you’ve ever wanted to correct people’s grammar for money, TEFL jobs are always in demand.

Where’s the best place to look?

You won’t find good opportunities everywhere, of course and the cities below are probably your best bet, as they are some of our biggest and, more importantly, internationally best connected. If you wan to move into a more rural area, things can very quickly get infinitely more complex and difficult.

• Berlin – The most international city in Germany. If you don’t speak German, start here.
• Frankfurt – Lots of banking and finance jobs. Good if you like money and skyscrapers.
• Munich – High-paying jobs, but good luck affording rent.
• Hamburg – Great for media, trade, and shipping industries.

Do you need to learn German?

Technically, especially if you’re taking up a job one of the aforementioned industries and cities, no. But realistically? Yes, at least a little bit.

Even if your job is in English, everyday life in Germany is still very much in German. Want to argue with your landlord? Book a GP appointment? Understand what the cashier at the supermarket is telling you to do? Well, knowing some basics German will make your life definitely a lot easier – and make you feel less isolated, too.

But at the end of the day, yes, Germany’s got lots and lots of options for your native tongue, if you want to have a look – especially in the metropolitan areas that we have. Germans speak English quite well in general, too, so you won’t be entirely lost and you’ll definitely be able to get by even without knowing or speaking it.

[Picture by Christopher Burns – thank you!]

1. Der Umlaut – oh, I just checked the dictionary, it’s a loan word for you! Which makes sense as you, well, don’t have them. Umlaute are these fellas here: Ä, Ö, Ü. ↩︎