The Diary Of A Berlin Job Seeker

We all know that looking for work in Germany isn’t the easiest thing to do. We already wrote about it in one of our Berlin Life guides, The Reality Of Finding Work In Berlin In 2023.

How about if you could follow the journey of a real person as they search for a job in Berlin? Well, that’s just what we’re bringing to you with this diary of a Berlin job seeker.

You’ll get updates on a weekly basis and hear about their experiences firsthand, including how many places they applied to, if they get invited to interviews, what the interviews are like, and if they get offers or rejections. See how they feel during the process, find out the mistakes they make, and learn about the mistakes the company makes too. There will even be a table or chart tracking the jobs they apply to and the outcome of each application.

Someone I know is looking for work in Berlin and while they’ll remain anonymous for obvious reasons, we agreed to embark on this project to document the trials and tribulations of a Berlin job seeker.

This is their current situation:

Let’s call this person “Stella” (not their real name), who just found out that her company is not doing well and she might be laid off. The scenario remains uncertain – she may stay safe or could be let go anytime. She no longer feels a sense of safety at work, is completely unmotivated, and her well-being is beginning to decline.

Having been laid off before, she’s not panicking … yet. First off, she might retain her job after all. She also knows that if she loses her job, due to long notice periods and labor protections, she’ll be fairly well-compensated and if worse comes to worst, they can always go on unemployment. She’s thankful to live in Germany for just these reasons.

Not wanting to give control over her fate to someone else, Stella started looking for work. Fortunately, she lives in Berlin where there are plenty of job opportunities and she’s also able to work remotely. She has 10+ years of experience and works in an in-demand profession. She’s not German but has permanent residency and has been living in Germany for just over five years. However, she doesn’t speak German so well just yet, limiting her chances in what’s already a tough market. While she’s looking for one type of role in particular, she has a couple of fallback options even if that wouldn’t benefit her career development.

Stella has followed all of the conventional advice for job hunting in Berlin. She has a job application that meets German standards and she customizes it for each job application. She even had her documents reviewed by a career coach.

Let’s follow Stella’s journey as she looks for work in Germany.

Weekly Updates

This is Stella’s diary as a Berlin job seeker in 2023. Bookmark this page and follow along with her journey as new updates are posted each week.

Week One (Week of March 6)

Scouring all the usual job search sites, Stella sees that job openings are not as plentiful as in previous times. Of course, opportunities available in English are even fewer. As a first go, she identified 11 possible jobs for which she could apply.

One of them seems especially perfect and she’s really excited. The company has a solid reputation and she can check off almost every single job requirement. She wants to apply right away but realizes, “I haven’t updated my CV in years. What have I been doing all this time?” 

She knows time is of the essence and a speedy application will improve her chances of getting an interview. But updating a CV and writing cover letters is no easy task and takes time. With everyone else she has going on in her life, it takes her another week before they submit that first job application. 

Firing it off, she breathed a sigh of relief and felt like she accomplished something. At the same time, she dreaded flinging herself back to the whole job search process again. She reminded herself that she needs career options and that having some job prospects in the pipeline will her sleep better at night. She vowed to keep applying for jobs but to do so at a slow pace to avoid getting too stressed.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5

Week Two (Week of March 13)

10 days later and Stella has not heard a word back from company 1 outside of the standard “We got your application email.” She feels let down as she thought her job application had been spot on. Knowing that companies take forever to make hiring decisions in Germany, she tries to stay positive.

In the previous week, she’d only applied for that one job. Going into week 2, she amped up the job application efforts and applied for three more jobs. Writing custom cover letters was starting to get easier and chatGPT was a great help in sharpening up the content.

Much to her delight, the third company she applied to invited her for an intro call, which is scheduled for the following week.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 

Week Three (Week of March 20) 

At the beginning of week three, there had been no response back from companies 1, 3, and 4. Stella worked to prepare for an intro interview on Friday, Feb 24, and felt excited to see where that will go.

Stella also set about submitting more job applications, and to her dismay, three companies she had on her list to apply to had already closed the roles. She chastised herself, vowing that from now on, she’d apply for positions as soon as she saw them. 

Furthermore, Stella saw that while company 4 had the role listed on wellfound (a job portal for startup jobs), it wasn’t listed on their website. She’s now unsure if that job is even open and doesn’t understand why companies don’t do a better job keeping their listings up to date. 

On Tuesday, Stella submitted applications to one more company. On Wednesday, she submitted two more applications. 

Meanwhile, she’s seeing how many jobs require German and realizes she really needs to start learning it ASAP. She is now practicing daily with Duolingo.

Stella’s intro interview lasted 45 minutes and perceives it went well. She admired that the recruiter had solid interviewing skills and acted very professionally. It was a good sign! She’s confident that she has a solid chance to make it to the next stage. The company promised an update on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 / Invited for second round on Mar 24 

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22

Week Four (Week of March 27)

It was one heck of a busy week for Stella and as such, she didn’t apply for any new jobs, nor did she spend as many hours practicing German as she had the week before. As a result, two more of the jobs she’d had on her list to apply for had disappeared and she also lost her daily streak on Duolingo. Despite spending less time on her German, she still managed to get some study time in and felt proud she was still sticking to her language-learning goals.

She was also rejected for two jobs (on the same day!) for which she hadn’t even been interviewed. Companies 1 and 5 rejected her and the rejection from company 1 stung a lot. In her eyes, that job had been perfect for her and was even similar to her current job. She was especially disappointed that they didn’t give her a chance for an interview. Regardless, she replied to both companies thanking them for their time and asked them to keep her in mind for future opportunities.

On the bright side, she was invited by company 2 to have a get-to-know-you session with what could be her future team. She prepared for the session by reviewing our detailed job interview guide. Stella enjoyed the session and again perceived that it went well. She’s pretty stoked about the job opportunity, the team, and the company itself and is hoping she will be invited to continue with them. She updated the recruiter and shared her positive feedback.

She also received an invite for an intro call with company number 3, which she thinks also went well. She sent a thank you note the following day as well. 

She’s now (somewhat anxiously) waiting to hear back from company 2 and 3 with next steps.

Stella also heard nothing back from companies 4, 6, and 7. 

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22

Week Five (Week of April 3)

Stella didn’t have the best week. She was busy with work and felt too tired and overwhelmed to even think about applying for jobs or learning German. So she didn’t do either and buckled down to focus on the job she still has while aching for the week to end so she could take a four-day Easter break. See our list of Berlin public holidays.

While she didn’t apply for any new jobs, there was progress with her current job applications:

After completing two interviews, she heard back from company 2 and unfortunately was rejected. She was however provided with very positive feedback and they mentioned that if the other candidate they’d given the offer to didn’t work out that they’d be in touch again. While Stella was again disappointed as it was a good job with a stable company, she knew she couldn’t have done anything differently – the interviews went well and she did all the right things. As such, she has zero regrets.

She’s still in progress with company 3. That week, she was invited to a second interview. The interview seemed to have gone well and she was told she’d definitely be invited back for further rounds. She feels unsure about this job but doesn’t want to share her assessment publically just yet.

The Wellfound application with company 4 expired after they didn’t action it. This was an opportunity that had appeared on Wellfound, but not the company’s website. Stella considers this one closed, as there’s been zero communication. This company should put more effort into making sure expired opportunities are removed from other websites as it misleads candidates and wastes their time.

Company 6 got in touch and invited Stella to an interview, which is scheduled for April 11. 

Stella’s application with company 7 is another weird one. The position is no longer active on their public website, but if you log into their HR portal, it still shows as under review. Stella heard from an “inside source” at the company (she’s really good at networking) that they’ve implemented a hiring freeze. So as she hasn’t heard anything, she also considers this opportunity closed.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 /Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

Week Six (Week of April 10)

Stella felt recharged after the Easter holidays and jump-started the work week with renewed energy. She applied for one more job and got an invitation for an interview only two days later. She had one interview and practiced German on two different days – a marked improvement from the previous week. 

Stella had her last interview with company 3 on April 6 and was told that she’d definitely hear from them again soon. So far, it’s been quiet from their side. She puts it down to many people taking extended vacations and hopes she’ll hear something this week.

She had an intro call with company 6 on April 11 and it seemed to have gone well. She was reassured she’d make it the next round and that she’d hear something back before the end of the week. As with company 3, Stella has not heard anything back from them. 

Company 7, one she’d already written off, finally sent her a rejection email. Yay?

She applied for one more job with company 8 this week, applying on April 12 and receiving an invitation for an interview on April 14. Weirdly, that first interview is not until the end of the month. She spotted another amazing position on their website – a role she hasn’t officially held before, but would really like to gain experience in doing. She plans to apply for that this week and see if she can be successful in convincing them she’d be good for that role.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 /Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 

Week Seven (Week of April 17)

Stella didn’t apply for any new jobs this week, as she’s been super busy with her current day job. She had a really productive and good week at work and realized that she doesn’t want to leave just yet. She really loves what she does there and has been finding it hard to find a similar environment that would allow her to continue down her current career path. But as the situation remains uncertain, she’ll continue to apply for jobs in Berlin. She also practiced German several times this week and is satisfied with her progress on that front. 

Company 3 finally got back to her and a third interview is scheduled for April 25. Stella also hasn’t heard back from company 6, so she sent them a followup note on Friday. 

Next week will prove interesting as she has interviews with company 3 and 8. 

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 /Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11 

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an into interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 

Week Eight (Week of April 24)

Like the week before, Stella didn’t apply for any new jobs. She’s still feeling conflicted about leaving her current job and company (which she loves) and is finding it hard to be motivated to go hard on the job search. Yet on a sad note, the layoffs at her company started this week too. Fortunately, she’s in progress with two companies right now.

She had her third interview with company 3 and it seemed to once again go well. They informed her they’d invite her for an onsite interview for the following week, but by week’s end, she still hadn’t heard back. She has reservations about this particular role and company, so she isn’t pushing it too hard. Stella also had her first interview with company 8 and it also went very well, with her getting an invite to a second interview on the same day. The interview is scheduled for the first week in May and she’s really excited to find out more, as the intro interview had been conducted so professionally that she thinks it’s a good sign of the company culture. She still hasn’t heard a thing back from company 6 and doesn’t appreciate being ghosted, especially after they told her they’d invite her for an interview ASAP back on April 11. 

She practiced German here and there this week, but not as much as she liked as she hadn’t slept well on different nights and was exhausted on most days. She was happy about the upcoming long weekend so she could once again relax and regroup. 

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 / Completed the third interview / Waiting on an invite for an  in-person interview

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 /Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11 

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 / Intro interview on Apr 28 and received an invite to a second interview on the same day

Week Nine (Week of May 1)

Once again this week, Stella didn’t apply for any new jobs. She knows she should be keeping up her job search, but she’s working hard on getting through interviews with two companies at the moment. She also didn’t practice any German and feels guilty, as until now she’d been practicing a lot and seeing the benefits in her daily interactions.

Stella is feeling all the uncertainty in her life pretty hard right hard now. That’s the real reason why she’s not very motivated. With more layoffs looming, the atmosphere at her work is weird, to say the least, and she sees everyone suffering. Not only that, when people ask for her help, she can’t guarantee she’ll be working there in a month. More than anything, she’s just waiting to hear the words “You’re safe” – even if it’s just for the time being.

She had an onsite interview last week with company 3, which was her first in-person interview since before the pandemic. It was a complete disaster, with some of the interviewers not even showing up! She felt so disrespected and is not sure what to expect next. Even if she gets an offer, it likely wouldn’t be a good idea to accept despite her current situation.

She has another interview scheduled with company 8 this week (the second one) and is eager to see how that will go. Keep your fingers crossed for her and send all the good vibes you can.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 / Completed the third interview / Completed fourth in-person interview 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 / Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11 

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 / Intro interview on Apr 28 and received an invite to a second interview for May 8

Week Ten (Week of May 8)

Stella had quite the week and yes, it was another week that she didn’t apply for any new jobs. She had good reason as she finally got a job offer and had another interview! She also practiced German much more this week and feels pretty good about that small but meaningful accomplishment. 

So in big news, company 3 gave her a job offer. Nothing is official yet (she hasn’t signed a contract), but the salary is much more than what she’s making now and it’s something to think about. She also had another interview with company 8 and was invited to the third and final round. She’s hoping she can score an offer from them and make a choice between the two companies. 

She’d almost forgotten about company 6, who’d ghosted her after one interview. She closed the application in her job application tracker accordingly. 

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 / Completed the third interview / Completed fourth in-person interview / Received offer 

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 / Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11  / Ghosted (20 days)

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 / Intro interview on Apr 28 and received an invite to a second interview for May 8 / Invited to a third and final interview 

Week Eleven (Week of May 15)

Stella’s been deep in thought, as she has to make some decisions soon. So yeah, decisions, decisions, decisions. Stella has decided to accept the job offer with company 3 despite having some reservations (which she’ll detail here more at a later date). The money is good and after not receiving any salary increases this year despite the hardship of inflation, the extra income will come in handy. Then company 8 decided to throw her a curveball. After the second interview (which went really well!), they told her she’d only need to do one more interview and said she’ll receive an invite soon. Instead, they came back a week later and told her they wanted to add one more interview round to the process. Stella thought the last-minute change wasn’t cool, but she agreed to it as she wants to see the opportunity through to the end. If the job is good and she gets an offer, she may take this one instead. Her next interview is taking place today!

Meanwhile, things with her current company aren’t going well and at this point, she hopes to get laid off. She’s tired of the constant stress, wondering each day if she’s going to get the axe or not. Needless to say, she has to resign by next Monday.

On the language learning side, she’s practiced German much more. She found out the hard way that the free version of the Duolingo app user experience sucks as it’s packed full of ads that pop up every minute or so (at least that’s what it feels like). On the other hand, if you use their website, you only get an ad each time you finish an exercise –  a much more bearable experience.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 / Completed the third interview on Apr 25 / Completed fourth in-person interview May 5 / Received offer May 9 / Signed contract May 22 (70 days)

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 / Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11  / Ghosted (20 days)

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 / Intro interview on Apr 28 and received an invite to a second interview for May 8 / Invited to a third interview for May 22

Week Twelve (Week of May 22)

Stella signed an employment contract with company 3 and is scheduled to start her new job in September. She’ll be resigning on May 31! She knows she should be celebrating that she found a new gig so quickly, but she feels a spectrum of emotions – relief, sadness, anger, and apathy. She’d really like to stay at her current company, but things didn’t improve and three months after finding out her company was doing layoffs, she still hasn’t gotten any confirmation about whether or not she’ll be affected. The uncertainty has been too much to bear and she’s relieved that part’s now over.

Meanwhile, Stella proceeded with a third and fourth interview with company 8 and is waiting to hear back from them. She has a good feeling she’ll receive an offer and if that happens, she’ll seriously think about taking it and rescinding the other one.

She also didn’t practice any German last week, as she was busy with personal things and taking time out to make the needed big life decisions about where her career will go next.

Job Application Summary:

1) Company 1 – Applied Mar 5 / Rejected Mar 30 (25 days)

2) Company 2 – Applied Mar 15 / Intro interview on Mar 24 and invited for a second round on Mar 24 / Second interview Mar 30 / Rejected on Apr 4 (20 days)

3) Company 3 – Applied Mar 13 / Invited to an intro interview on Mar 29 / Intro interview Mar 30 / Invited to second interview Apr 3 / Second interview on Apr 6 / Invited to a third interview on Apr 25 / Completed the third interview on Apr 25 / Completed fourth in-person interview May 5 / Received offer May 9 / Signed contract May 22 (70 days)

4) Company 4 – Applied Mar 16 / Application expired Apr 6 (21 days)

5) Company 5 – Applied Mar 21 / Rejected Mar 30 (9 days)

6) Company 6 – Applied Mar 22 / Intro interview on Apr 11  / Ghosted (20 days)

7) Company 7 – Applied Mar 22 / Role closed without any communication Apr 10 (19 days)

8) Company 8 – Applied Apr 14 / Received an invitation for an intro interview on Apr 16 and the interview is scheduled for Apr 28 / Intro interview on Apr 28 and received an invite to a second interview for May 8 / Invited to a third interview for May 22 / Completed interview 3 on May 22 and interview 4 on May 24 / Waiting on a final decision

Learn first-hand what it’s like to look for a job in Germany by following this diary of a real-lifeBerlin job seeker. We’d love for you to share your experiences in the comments too.