CHANGING YOUR CAREER OR GROWING WITHIN YOUR COMPANY IN GERMANY
What’s on this week?
Master moving up in the company ranks. People love their Birkenstocks hard. Stats for women working in tech haven’t changed for 20 years. The German economy is not only declining but pivoting.
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Advice From A Career Coach
🦉 Practical advice about finding work in Germany.
Changing Your Career or Growing Within Your Company
Say you’re one of those rare birds who like where you work. You want to stay with the company and move up or change careers entirely. Just how do you go about doing this?
Follow this advice to advance yourself professionally:
Find out what you love. Whether young or old, you might not know exactly what you want to be when you grow up. You’re fortunate to have top-notch resources available. Begin with collecting information to help you decide your next steps.
Reach out to others in your company and ask to meet for a coffee or lunch. Take the time to discuss what they do, inquire about the pros and cons of their jobs, and learn what they recommend to move in that direction.
Aside from building up a professional network within the company, it helps you become familiar with how other parts of the organization work. It also gives you insight if that is where you want to take your career. Not all of your colleagues may be open to such a meeting, but most people are usually happy to help others out.
This is just the start of the journey. Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter for more advice about growing or changing careers within your company.
🗣️ I offer career coaching to help foreigners improve their chances of finding work in Germany. Check out how I might be able to help you.
Community News
🤝 News from our community.
⭐ Our last poll asked: What piece of typical German fashion do you own? 😅 Out of the 22 people who responded, a whopping 73% admitted to owning one or more pairs of Birkenstocks.
⭐ Take part in this week’s poll: Have you been able to change jobs or get promoted at a German company?
⭐ This week’s featured Berlin Life guides: Sunday Shopping In Berlin (Yes, It’s Possible) & The Reality Of Finding Work In Berlin In 2024.
⭐ Read last week’s newsletter: Explaining Career Gaps on a German CV. To read our past editions, check out our archives.
⭐ Reminder: We’re looking for foreign women in tech to share their experiences working in Germany. Fill out this form to be featured in an upcoming article.
⭐ Shoutouts:
💫 If you want to gain confidence and have fun at the same, consider taking improv classes in Berlin.
💫 For the best advice about where to eat in Berlin, check out Berlin Food Stories and subscribe to their newsletter. They are one of Berlin’s OG sources for foodie advice and are infinitely more knowledgeable than the average local TikTok “influencer.”
💫 Check out Beneighb, a new platform in Germany designed to help neighbors connect and support each other through shared resources and community engagement.
Food For Thought
💡 Interesting articles about the world of work and other random things.
⭐ There’s a talent shortage when it comes to AI and defense tech, and related companies are desperate to hire.
⭐ Fast Company offers advice for companies on how to write better job descriptions to attract high-performing talent. Change your perspective and give it a read to learn how to better your CV to find work at the best companies out there.
⭐ The globe’s hardest-working country (can you guess which one?) is thinking about a four-day workweek.
⭐ The number of women working in tech has remained the same since … 2005.
⭐ Use this carefully curated job portal to find top jobs across the world, including Germany.
Companies Hiring
🇩🇪 Companies in Germany hiring right now.
⭐ Bees & Bears (Berlin, 4 jobs, DE & EN required)
⭐ Figo Social (Berlin, 1 job, DE required)
⭐ Finanztip (Berlin & Munich, 20 jobs, DE & EN required)
⭐ Miro (Berlin & Munich, 7 jobs, EN required)
⭐ N26 (11 jobs, Berlin, EN required)
⭐ PPRO (9 jobs, Berlin & Munich, DE & EN required)
⭐ Vara (Berlin, 7 jobs, EN required)
🇩🇪 German startups that recently raised new funding also have vacancies.
⭐ Chromatic (€6 M) | Selfkant | Jobs
⭐ Habyt (€40 M) | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ Key Ward (€1 M) | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ Quantum Optics (€8.5) | Jena | Jobs
⭐ Retraced (€15 M) | Dusseldorf | Jobs
⭐ Reverion (€56 M) | Eresing | Jobs
⭐ Ucaneo (€6.75 M) | Berlin | Jobs
ℹ️ We share new job postings every single day on LinkedIn. Follow us.
General News
⭐ Ha! Every third car stolen in Germany is stolen in Berlin.
⭐ Germany’s foreign office fact-checked trolled Donald Trump after their debate when he misspoke about the country’s energy policy.
⭐ Oh damn. The Corala Bridge in Dresden collapsed this past week.
⭐ Germans aren’t having enough babies, so thousands of kita spots are open nationwide.
⭐ Young women in Germany are disproportionately affected by homelessness.
⭐ The Deutsche Bahn released a 110-page plan to improve their punctuality.
⭐ A court ordered Berlin police to reimburse the Last Generation activists who glued themselves to the streets in protest – the police had charged them for their “glue removal” services.
⭐ Despite statistics and common sense indicating otherwise, Scholz is confident that the current ruling coalition will win again in the next election.
Economic Buzz
⭐ Musk keeps getting weirder, and the European markets aren’t responding kindly, with Tesla sales plunging in August.
⭐ Backed by Porsche, Cylib plans to build Europe’s largest lithium battery recycling plant and base it in Germany.
⭐ Portus will also construct a 12.8MW data center in Hamburg.
⭐ Unless drastic reforms are made, 20% of Germany’s value creation is at risk.
⭐ Despite recent bad news, the economy is not doomed. The automobile industry may be declining, but other sectors like defense, bio, and green tech could replace it.
Labor Market Developments
⭐ By 2026, Germany’s minimum wage will rise to €15 per hour.
⭐ The country’s largest labor union will strike if they don’t get a 7% raise for their four million workers.
Immigration Happenings
⭐ Chancellor Scholz continues to stress the critical need for skilled migrants to come to Germany.
⭐ Germany signed an agreement with Kenya to bring skilled migrants to Deutschland more easily.
⭐ Meanwhile, the government has implemented strict border controls to reduce illegal migration and appease the far right, which goes against the principle of open borders across the EU.
⭐ The US News named Germany the world’s 7th best country to live in.
Green plans:
⭐ Germany aims to achieve net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045.
⭐ Parks across Germany are working to make our nature more resilient to climate change.
⭐ Cologne is going by way of Barcelona and is planning for car-free spaces in the city.
Fun and useful:
⭐ German literature fans should read these nine books.
⭐ Berliners invented the world’s first pregnancy test.
How We Can Help
😇 Good stuff from the Berlin Life.
⭐ Connect with local professionals with our LinkedIn Connect and Exchange list.
⭐ Save money with our partners as you settle into your new life in Germany.
⭐ Read our 50+ free guides to living, working, and moving to Germany.
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Cheryl Howard, Founder @ The Berlin Life
Hi, I’m Cheryl. My mission is to help you move to Berlin and find work.
A Canadian in Berlin for 10+ years, I have the unique experience of moving to Berlin – not once, but twice. During my time in Berlin, I’ve had five different visas and worked as both a freelancer and a permanent employee for numerous Berlin companies. I even managed to find a new job during the pandemic and again in 2023, during Germany’s recession and massive layoffs in tech.
My day job has involved work as a hiring manager, overseeing the recruitment of countless people, as well as a team coach helping teams and individuals work better and find happiness in their careers. Through my side projects, I’ve also shared my personal experiences by publishing a series of helpful blog posts, creating a thriving community of job seekers, and hosting events to help people find work in Berlin. In 2021, I decided to put my coaching and recruiting talents to use by creating The Berlin Life, bringing my existing content and community together in one spot.
The combination of my personal and professional experience means I know exactly what it takes to move to Berlin and find work.