Good afternoon, dear reader!
In this post, I would like to talk about how I moved to Germany, to Berlin, how I found a job and received a Blue Card, and what underwater experiences people who decide to repeat my path can expect. I hope that my article will be useful to you if you want to get a new, interesting, professional IT experience.
Before I begin, I would like to express my special gratitude to the author . I managed to repeat something from his publication, so at some points, this post will contain similar information, but the essence of this post is to show the changes that have occurred a few years later using my experience as an example.
Why a job search visa and not a Blue Card right away? As already mentioned, the most important thing is time.
On February 26, 2018, I submitted a set of documents for a visa and on February 28, the visa was already in hand. And on March 15, 2018, he flew to Berlin. The visa is issued for 6 months of continuous stay in Germany.
In addition to time, there is an opportunity to see the future employer live, which is also good for the employer when he sees you. And as a result, I found a job in 2 weeks from the moment of arrival in Berlin.
You can find a list of the main documents for this visa. A general visa information. The data is constantly updated.
I'm not the first to say this, but you can't argue here - the psychological attitude is important. You need to burn with a desire to do what you have planned, it will be visible to others and the future employer, which will only increase your chances of success.
Но обо всем по порядку.
Requirements
1. Higher education
If you want to get a job search visa, you need to check your diploma here . This is a university database. Find your university and your specialty, and if your university is H + and you see your specialty on the list, then congratulations, you have every chance of getting a job search visa. Immediately print out information on the specialty and university, it will come in handy at the time of submission of documents. But do not despair if you do not find your university and your specialty in the lists. There is a lot of information on the Internet about how to send your diploma for confirmation.
I graduated from MGUPI in 2012 with a degree in Applied Mathematics, my university and specialty were on the list of recognized ones in Germany.
2. Profession experience
If the experience is rich, then the level of demand grows exponentially.
I am a mobile iOS and Android developer. And at the time of applying for a visa, I will not say that I was very strong in this. I barely gained half a year of experience in commercial development, but that turned out to be enough for me to still be in demand on the market. Moreover, my past profession for 6 years was closely related to the design of engineering networks, where I joined in the 4th year of university, and I came to IT through 1C, when I was 26 years old, having my own reasons to change the field of activity. Starting in July 2017, I got carried away and actively began self-taught mobile development, having mastered several udemy online courses.
3. Foreign language
If you can speak/write in English, that will be more than enough. The minimum is to understand what you are being told and be able to answer in a simple way. One of the documents required for a visa is a motivation letter, in which it is necessary to indicate the level of German proficiency. There are not enough specialists, and the authorities turn a blind eye to the fact that a person may not speak German. German, especially in Berlin, is optional, both among IT companies and in everyday life. It is possible to live with only English, as 95% of Berliners are fluent in it.
I have always had a good relationship with English, so I did not observe any problems with communication. But German has not been studied since birth. And before the trip, for the sake of general development, 1 month was like a German language course, and at the same time I studied with DuoLingo.
4. Cash
According to the data for September 2019, you need to have an amount in the account at the rate of 853 euros per month for 6 months, in other words 5118 euros. This is the minimum amount that you must have in your account in order for the visa to be approved. The recommendation to take a couple of thousand more and asks for itself. Since a large amount of funds will go immediately to rent an apartment (deposit and payment from one to several months in advance).
5. Other
Focus on the required documents listed in the brochure at the link above. All documents, of course, were translated into German. But keep in mind that you may be asked for additional documents. When I applied for a visa, I was asked if I knew anyone in Berlin and if I had already tried to look for a job. The answer to both questions was “yes”, and therefore, I was asked to provide the data of my acquaintances (passports and visas), as well as a copy of emails from companies with which I had already managed to communicate remotely. I will talk about this in more detail below. It is very important that there are no large time gaps between professional activities, the work book will show this. If, for some reason, there is such a temporary gap, then it is necessary to argue why it was. For example, training courses took six months, if so, attach a certificate.
receipt of a visa
Well, the embassy website has been looked through, the list of documents has been studied, the money has been found and the euro account has been opened, and the university has been checked in the database and recognized in Germany. The next step is the collection and translation of documents.
I collected documents according to the list and translated everything into German, except for hotel reservations. Additionally, I provided udemy certificates, which I also translated into German. At the time of submission of documents, I was asked from what date to open a visa. Opened March 15 at my request. And as I wrote above, I was additionally asked about my steps in terms of finding a job and about my acquaintances in Berlin. And asked to send information by e-mail.
In Moscow, I decided to apply for various vacancies on XING and LinkedIn. Most companies ignored me, some immediately sent a refusal, but there were also a couple of companies that would love to talk to me. So I took some screenshots of the correspondence with the companies and emailed them to the embassy. This was more than enough.
My documents were quickly reviewed and a day later I took the finished visa, which I was given immediately for 6 months. Visa national, type D.
Once the visa is in hand, you buy tickets, check your hotel reservation and fly out.
So, what was prepared at the time of arrival:
- visa,
- my diploma, other documents and translations,
- hotel reservation for 1 week,
- Sberbank card and cash amount (keep in mind, cash in Germany is more loved than cards),
- suitcase with things
- spirit of adventure.
Upon arrival in Berlin
1.1 Telephone
In any big discounter Lidl/Aldi/Edeka etc. you can buy a prepaid sim card. Each package has instructions on how to activate the SIM card yourself. Alternatively, you can buy a SIM card in a Vodafone/Telekom/o2 communication salon, the SIM card will be activated, but you will pay for the services. I bought myself in Edeka Blau AllnetS, I still use it.
1.2 Travel card
It is very likely that it would be interesting to shoe oneself with information on how to save on travel. you will find everything about tickets and public transport or as they say here "Öffis". I bought myself a monthly pass Monatskarte VBB-Umweltkarte zone AB.
2. Search for housing
и - these are the main resources for finding housing in Berlin, as an option, you can try posting an ad on Facebook in .
I had no special preferences for the apartment, with the exception of "here and now and no more than 700 euros per month."
At first I enlisted the help of acquaintances, because some of the ads were in German. But in the end, on the third day after arrival, I found an apartment myself. I was lucky, because the ad was the most recent, no longer than a couple of minutes, and the owner’s phone number was visible, which I copied onto a piece of paper, and for good reason, because immediately after refreshing the page, the phone number disappeared. When I called the author of the ad, he was very surprised that I managed to call, because he hid the number. After a short conversation, it turned out that the landlord would consider me as a potential employer. In less than 10 minutes, I received a call with an invitation to see the apartment. The decision of the owner was in my favor, because, I quote: “You are an IT specialist, you definitely won’t stay here without a job, so I’m ready to rent an apartment to you. Come". On the same day I inspected the apartment, signed a contract for 3 months and immediately paid 1800 euros (for 2 months and a deposit). Payment was in cash with receipt of receipt of money.
After signing the contract, you need to go to the Bürgeramt and do Anmeldung einer Wohnung (registration in the apartment). You go to and select from the list the Bürgeramt in which you want to assign the term (Termin - record).
You must have 4 documents with you:
- passport,
- lease agreements,
- your declaration Anmeldung bei der Meldebehörde
- obligatory from the landlord Einzugsbestätigung des Wohnungsgebers (Vermieter).
Unfortunately, in my case, the nearest term was in a month, but at that time Bürgeramt Rathaus Neukölln accepted without an appointment, it was necessary to stand in line for an hour.
You will receive a registration paper immediately, within 5-10 minutes.
By and large, registration is needed in order to receive letters by mail, important documents come by mail. Therefore, make sure in advance that your name is on the rented apartment, on the mailbox. Some companies that send you letters may issue a fine for not finding your mailbox when the postman tried to deliver the letter to you.
The money for the remaining days, the hotel reimbursed me.
The next step is to find a job.
3. Job search
, , , - I tried to look for a job on these sites, and the most interesting thing is that most of the vacancies were eventually duplicated on LinkedIn. There is also the option of passive search across platforms , , but this option is suitable for experienced developers and those who are not in a hurry.
You can always visit IT enterprises, list . Often companies really hold them in order to attract new employees to themselves - “We're hiring”, showing themselves, their culture, their employees, and if interested, you can always go to the site and send a resume.
I ended up focusing on LinkedIn, where I found my company, which I still continue to work for.
Summary
In the resume, they will expect from you the results that were achieved in past jobs.
The entire amount of information must fit on 2 pages. Ideally, if the resume is made on 1 page, with design and soul, it really catches the eye. The same goes for your LinkedIn profile. Be sure to photograph with a friendly facial expression. Please indicate your expected salary in your cover letter.
Transmittal letter
Very often, it’s not enough just to click “Apply” on an interesting vacancy, almost always you will be sent to the company’s page, where you need to fill out their own questionnaires. And often offer to attach a cover letter to the questionnaire. A cover letter will play a big role if you reveal the topics of why this particular company hooked you, why you, and how you can hook them. You must show your sincere interest. "All what you do is noble".
Additional documents
Your diploma with translation, as well as all kinds of certificates, must be issued in one PDF file in order to be used as an application. A large number of documents attached to the letter separately is intimidating.
Feedback
In total, I responded to 100 vacancies. And I still receive answers from some companies with an offer to communicate. Here everything goes evenly, smoothly, no one is in a hurry, but my goal was to find a job as soon as possible. The market for mobile developers is not as rich as for Web developers. Approximately 100 Mobile Developer jobs, 5 times more for Web Developer (Front > Backend).
The Interview
I began to receive answers to my responses to vacancies a week later. Since the move, there have been noticeably more responses with a desire to communicate, but first by phone. After talking with HR, it was planned to communicate with the IT staff of the company in a few days. After a conversation with the IT team, it was proposed to pass a test task from the category of creating mini applications for iOS (I was looking for the position of Junior iOS Developer).
As a result, in this way a week later and during the week I had 5 telephone interviews with IT staff and 2 test tasks.
A job offer
I received a letter from the company in the mail, with a proposal to call in the week. I was just waiting for the result of my test tasks, and could not refuse the pleasure of talking to another company. Only this time, I replied in a letter that I would not mind coming to the office right away so as not to waste time. As a result, I came to the office of this company. I was asked about work experience, why Germany and as answers, I used what I wrote in my motivation letter when I received a visa. For my part, I asked a lot of questions and I was offered to do a test task on the spot during the interview, which, in fact, was a test of how I plan my work. The interview from beginning to end was accompanied by my interest in the company, which is very popular with local employers. I was introduced to the staff and given a tour of the office. And in the evening of the same day I received an offer from this company that I could not refuse. Since at that time I was not a good developer, I got an offer of 42k a year - it was a little over the border to get a Blue Card. The offer was received on March 28, 2018, and I signed the contract on April 1, 2018. Along with the contract, I received another document describing my work and my company. This Stellenbeschreibung (position description) document will need to be attached to the Blue Card application.
According to the test results of those two companies, I was invited to the office of one to talk, but refused.
Bank account
With the contract in hand, I went to Sparkasse to open an account, but, unfortunately, when I arrived, there was no free English-speaking employee to handle the paperwork, so I was assigned a term every other day. A day later, I came with a signed contract from my employer and after 30 minutes they opened an account for me. I was told that a letter with a pin code would come to the post office, and then in a few days the bank card itself.
Insurance
Of the insurance companies, I chose TK (Techniker Krankenkasse), showing a work contract, I was registered as their client, and assured that the card would arrive within 1 week, but I received it after 2. Before that, I received a letter with a pin code to activate my personal account .
social number
The paper with the social number comes by mail, 1 week after registration at the Bürgeramt.
Tax number
The tax class was assigned to me at the time of signing the contract, I did not have to go anywhere, my employer took care of it. And a few days later, I received a paper with a tax number in the mail.
Blaue Karte
All documents on hand, it's time to get the coveted card. You had to go to ABH (Ausländerbehörde). I didn't take care of the recording, and the next free one could be only in 2 months. I notified my employer about this, and he said that everything was in order, they were ready to wait for me. But I was not ready for such a long wait, and, just in time, my insurance card finally arrived in the mail. I went again to and after reading the information about obtaining the Blue Card again, I decided to just come without a term with a package of documents, arguing that the contract had already been signed and they were waiting for me. “Just ask me” found its place in room 404, where I was told that now it is enough to send scans of all my documents by e-mail and in 2 weeks I will receive an answer from the employment service whether I can work or not. I sent all my received German documents, a work contract, as well as a diploma with translation. Exactly 2 weeks later, I received an answer that I can work, but for this I need to go to ABH again, pay 100 euros for data processing and get a paper while my card is being prepared. On April 26, I received this paper and had every right to work. On April 27th, he returned to work.
Timing
February 26, 2018 - applied for a visa
February 28, 2018 - received a visa
March 15, 2018 - arrived in Berlin
March 17, 2018 - moved into an apartment
March 28, 2018 - job offer
April 1, 2018 — signed a contract
April 12, 2018 - went to ABH and sent all documents by e-mail
April 26, 2018 - Approval from ABH
April 27, 2018 - went to work
June 6, 2018 — received the Blue Card
By the way, the action of the Blue Card originates from the moment you receive the paper allowing you to work.
That's all. I hope the information was useful and useful to you.
From other sources of information, I am very .
Source: habr.com