'Get uncomfortable': 5 expert tips for job hunting in Germany

One of the perplexing aspects of the job market in Germany currently is the country’s severe shortage of workers, and the difficulty many job-seekers still have getting hired.

Germany’s unemployment rate is low from a historical perspective, but it might not feel like that if you're job-hunting right now, depending on your industry.

In online forums, you'll find plenty of posts by job-seekers who have sought work for months and faced dozens (even hundreds) of rejections. Many of these applicants are looking for work in the IT or tech sectors, which reportedly lack qualified workers.

The Local asked Stephen Nock, a Berlin-based professional development coach, about the strategies job-seekers should consider, based on the successes he has seen.

Here are his five top tips:

1) Focus your search

Nock told The Local that recruiters in his network have noted they are getting a heavier volume of applicants for open roles lately.

“A lot of people are casting really broad nets,” Nock said, adding that it’s really important to “take time to clarify what you want.”

Online tools like LinkedIn’s “easy apply” allow people to apply for a large number of positions en masse, but doing so may ultimately be harmful because people become less focused on what they’re actually seeking or well-qualified for.

A recent post to Reddit’s “Germany Jobs” forum illustrates the issue perfectly. A user seeking advice wrote that after a year of looking for work they are “reaching a really low point” and are currently “open to ANY job – internships, side gigs, or even work far below my experience – just to regain routine and self-worth”.

It’s a natural reaction to feel desperate when you can’t find work, especially if your financial situation isn’t stable or if your residency in the country hangs in the balance. But Nock maintains that a clear focus on what you are looking for is key to a successful search.

“People become less focused and less clear on what they’re looking for, and how it meets their qualifications,” Nock said. 

People often fall into the trap of seeing jobs that don’t quite fit and thinking ‘I’ll just apply – what does it hurt?’

It does hurt, however, when a half-hearted application turns into yet another rejection, which adds to a sense of desperation and hopelessness. It also hurts in the sense that it's wasted energy, which could have been put towards an application for a position that's a better fit.

2) Don’t hesitate to aim high

Another common complaint seen in comments on social forums is that companies appear to be seeking the impossibly perfect applicant e.g. listing C2 level German language skills and ten years of experience among other qualifications for an English speaking, low-level position.

Nock’s advice: don't assume that everything written in a job ad is a hard and fast requirement.

He has also worked directly with companies, including with hiring managers, and says that sometimes recruiters are describing the “ideal candidate” with the hope of finding someone with similar qualifications – other times it’s more like “licking a finger and sticking it in the air and hoping you’ll find the right people.”

A practical tip: Nock recommends that anyone feeling disenchanted with their job search take the time to write down their own job description – as if you're writing the ad for the job you want to find.

“What are the qualifications that you have? What kind of responsibilities do you want to have?...Put that down in the same format you would typically see a job advertised, because it is a two-way street and you want to know what you are bringing to the table, not just that you check all their boxes.”

READ ALSO: How do salaries in Germany compare to the rest of Europe?

Going through this process can be helpful down the line in the interview process as well, Nock suggests.

“It's much better to walk into that whole process with clarity and some sense of groundedness…you know why you're showing up there, and it's not just desperation to find something.”

3) Step out of your comfort zone

A theme that comes up again and again in Nock’s work with job-seekers is encouraging people to  branch out of their comfort zone – potentially opening themselves up to opportunities that might be quite different from the career path they’ve been on.

“All of us know that with AI the working landscape is changing very fast, and that also means that we, as individuals, have to be open to changing…” he said, adding that the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs report” suggests that just over 20 percent of the jobs people do in 2030 will be new roles, compared to those we have today.

In his own conversations with people Nock has identified “the need to grow, to explore, to get uncomfortable and try new things” as being necessary steps for many towards finding a new role, especially for those who have been stuck in a job search that isn’t progressing for some time.

“If you’ve been a technical project manager for your career…you might need to expand and look at where else your skill set can be applied,” Nock says.

READ ALSO: Germany among top countries for remote and hybrid work

As an example, he mentioned an artist he’s worked with who had been stuck in a prolonged job search. 

“The process that we went through was really exploring their strengths, including talking to their friends and close connections to understand how other people see them and where else their skill set might apply,” Nock explained.

Interestingly, through this process they found that this person's art skills - specifically with creating digital images - made them a decent candidate to work in a dental lab, drawing models of teeth.

“Humans have this profound desire to seek comfort,” Nock told The Local, “and with expats, because we’ve kind of put ourselves outside our comfort zone, we’re maybe trying to recreate that.

“But what's actually in our best interest is to embrace discomfort…and we don't necessarily have the self awareness to recognize that we need to get uncomfortable again.”

4) Seek out ‘weak ties’

It’s no secret that personal connections and networking can be a game changer for finding good opportunities, but Nock emphasizes the importance of “weak ties” in particular.

Weak ties are basically people you know personally but who are outside your core group of friends and colleagues.

A recent study by MIT looked at a large amount of LinkedIn data and found that statistically, weak ties performed better than strong ties for job mobility in most cases.

“If you have less than ten connections with someone [on LinkedIn], those people are actually more useful than your best friend, for example, to help you find a job,” says Nock.

In this sense, being new to Germany, or existing in a minority community, can actually be favourable to having a robust network of strong ties, Nock suggests. 

But he adds that, “It then takes the courage to reach out and ask for support.”

5) Use the resources that are available

Finally, any and all job-seekers in Germany should absolutely use the resources that are available to them, Nock emphasised. 

A big advantage to living in Germany is that there are numerous social benefits and safety nets in place, including those intended to help transition between jobs and find new ones.

Of course, regularly employed workers who have lost their job should consider the monetary benefits available to them, such as Arbeitslosengeld or Bürgergeld. 

READ ALSO:

• How generous is Germany's unemployment benefit system?
• Which benefits am I entitled to as a part-time employee in Germany?

But there are also other, lesser known benefits intended to help people find opportunities and even take time to re-tool or gain further education or qualifications in some cases.

Nock notes that unemployed people can apply for a AVGS voucher (Aktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein) which can be used to fund coaching sessions or for earning new qualifications. Job centres also offer programmes for further training and development in some cases.

“For anyone who’s worked in Germany for 12 months or more, it’s part of an insurance system that we’ve paid into,” Nock said, adding that something he often helps clients with is finding and navigating the benefits that can best support them.