Where and how to find a job in Germany without intermediaries: search for vacancies at the labour exchange, on the Internet sites, in newspapers and magazines, directly at employing companies

§ Labour exchange of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany - search for suitable vacancies, opening a personal profile

The Federal Employment Agency has its branches in every city in Germany and offers free professional services for enterprises in selecting both skilled and unskilled personnel. Job offers from German employers are also posted on the Internet on the agency’s website (www.arbeitsagentur.de), the main online labour exchange in Germany. This labour exchange is really very convenient for finding a job. The site is available in German and English.

In addition to searching for vacancies, each person looking for work can register on the website of the employment agency and create their own professional profile. Firms, as well as agencies, look at these profiles when selecting suitable personnel. In addition, registered users can take advantage of various services of the labour exchange, including: submitting an online application for unemployment benefits.

Some companies place their job advertisements in paper form directly on bulletin boards just inside the buildings of the employment agency branches.

Figure 1. Labour exchange website in Germany

Go to the German labour exchange website

As can be seen in Figure 1, the labour exchange website is made very simple and convenient for finding vacancies. It consists of the following 4 parts:

In our opinion, the labour exchange of the Federal Employment Agency provides the best service among job websites, and also has the largest number of relevant jobs, and its mediation is absolutely free for both employees and employers.

§ Newspapers, magazines and other print media

In addition to convenient online job offers, local print newspapers and magazines also feature job offers. This is especially true for small firms without professional human resources managers on the staff. Besides, not all people are willing to use job search websites; so, to reach this part of people looking for work, enterprises publish their offers in traditional print media. So browse through local newspapers for jobs. If the newspaper does not have its own website or the site does not publish advertisements, you can subscribe to newspapers for a fee.

Local print newspapers and magazines also post job offers

Free newspapers with job advertisements

In many regions of Germany, free newspapers with announcements are laid out in all mailboxes If the box does not have an inscription forbidding to put advertising in the mailbox, for example: "keine Werbung" or "keine kostenlose Zeitungen", then free newspapers with ads will be delivered every week. These newspapers usually also contain job advertisements.

How to find local newspaper websites?

Many print media duplicate their advertisements, including job offers, on their sites on the Internet. Therefore, another good option for finding a job is to view ads on the sites of local newspapers or other traditional print media.

In Germany, there is the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers, on whose website you can find newspapers published in every region of the country. Having found the suitable newspapers, you can go to their sites and find the section with ads. For example, it may be called "Anzeigen", "Job", "Karriere", "Stellenangebote", "Arbeitsmark", etc.

Names of job ad sections in newspapers: Anzeigen, Job, Karriere, Stellenangebote, Arbeitsmark, etc.

Vacancy announcements in major print media

Large print media organize entire sections on their websites with job openings, usually from the region, in which the print media is circulated. Further in the list you will find links to the sections with vacancies of the major print media.

• Süddeutsche Zeitung
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
• Tageszeitungen Rheinland-Pfalz und Hessen
• ANTENNE THÜRINGEN
• Münchener Merkur Zeitung
• Rhein Neckar Zeitung
• Die RHEINPFALZ
• Zeit Online Stellenmarkt
• Rhein-Main von Frankfurter Rundschau

§ Online labour exchanges and job search websites

There are many specialized sites on the German Internet where firms post their job offers. Below you will find a list of the best-known sites, the so-called online labour exchanges:

Table 1: Online labour exchanges in Germany

Many labour exchanges provide users with the opportunity to create their own personal profile for job search. Some sites allow you to create anonymous profiles that everyone can view, and only registered employers can receive your contact information. These profiles are viewed by companies in search of suitable employees. Opening your profile on one or more labour exchanges can help you find a job.

§ Job search engines, search systems

Besides online labour exchanges, there are also many websites that are search engines on databases and sites with job offers. As a rule, it is impossible to advertise or create a profile on these sites, however, they provide an opportunity for convenient job search in Germany on many online labour exchanges, sites of enterprises, various trade unions and associations all at once. Further in table 2 you can find a list of such search engines.

Table 2: Job search engines

§ Job search directly at companies

If you are looking for work in a specific area or industry, you can contact firms directly to find out if they have the right job for you. In Germany, this is a common situation, however, if the company does not offer a suitable place for you, you may receive no answer to your request. A job search directly in firms includes the following steps:

• Obtaining a list of suitable firms;
• viewing the company website;
• writing and submitting an open job application (the so-called initiative resume).

Obtaining a list of suitable firms. First of all, you need to find a list of suitable firms. The directory of suitable companies can be found through the Google search engine in the Google Maps service: you need to specify the city and industry or type of company. Of course, not all companies register themselves in Google Maps, so this method will not be the most optimum. Another way: do a business search through Gelbe Seiten - the traditional largest directory of German firms, both online and in print.

Viewing the company website. On their official websites many companies post messages about open vacancies, as well as how to apply for a job search. On the firm’s website, go to the “Job” or “Karriere” menu for information.

Writing and submitting an open job application (the so-called initiative resume). If the company currently does not offer a place of work suitable for you, you can still send your resume and cover letter in German. This form of job search is called Initiativbewerbung. You can find out more about how to properly draw up a resume for work in Germany and a cover letter for employment, on dedicated pages of our website. Should your profile appear to be of interest to the company, your resume will be saved for possible future contact.

§ Using personal liaisons and connections

Although at first glance it may seem that personal liaisons might appear to be useless in finding a job, employment experts say that this is how people often find work. Therefore, let all your relatives, acquaintances and friends know that you are looking for work. Briefly describe what kind of work you are looking for. Request them to enquire among their acquaintances and friends. In our time of social networking it has become very easy to do. Some social networks even provide an option to make a setting in the profile, saying that you are looking for a job. In any case, write to all "friends" on the network that you are looking for a job. A few ideas about who you can tell about your job search can be found in the list below:

• family members,
• relatives,
• friends,
• former classmates or fellow students,
• former work colleagues,
• former employers,
• acquaintances from societies and associations,
• business partners, customers,
• "friends" on social networks.

§ Job fairs, career fairs (in German: Jobmessen)

The so-called career fairs (vacancies fairs), which can also help in finding a job, regularly take place in different cities of Germany. They allow you to get in touch directly with employers and introduce yourself to them. Enterprises usually use these fairs to establish contacts with graduates of educational institutions, universities in search of suitable employees, as well as professionals with extensive experience in a particular field. At these job fairs, you can find innovative job offers with pre-vocational training, preliminary vocational training.

First of all, find out where the next job fairs will be held. This can be found on the sites of the organizers for such events, below you will find a list of such organizers.

To search for jobs at the job fair, use the following strategy:

• Determine where and which job fairs you want to attend,
• on the organizer's website you will find a list of companies that participate,
• choose the companies you are interested in as employers,
• prepare folders with resumes and other documents for job search in Germany, that you will submit to these companies,
• when you come to a career fair, go to the stands of the companies chosen by you to find out their offers and submit your resume.

Table 3: Job fairs in Germany, list of organizers

§ Other possibilities: agencies and intermediaries

Here we have discussed the possibilities of finding work in German companies, which implies a certain level of knowledge of the German or English languages, although some companies offer jobs without knowledge of the language, for example, when the company’s chief or department head knows English and does not mind accepting workers from other countries. If you want to learn why vacancies for foreigners, are offered in Germany, go to the relevant page of our website.

Another way to find a job in Germany is to contact intermediaries or agencies that are looking for candidates for various vacancies. This is another story, which is discussed on the next page of our site: employment agencies and intermediaries in Germany