Working as a software engineer in Germany [What it’s REALLY like]

The pros of working as a developer in Germany.
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📼 RELATED VIDEOS:
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👉 • Discover Which German ...
10 Things you should know about the German WORK CULTURE 🥥🍻
👉 • 10 Things you should k...
⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
00:50 - Salary
02:16 - Popular Cities in Germany
03:16 - Tech Stack
04:10 - Educational Background
05:58 - Necessary Language Skills
08:28 - Work Culture
10:35 - How Can You Get Hired From Abroad?
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Simple Germany provides tips & information in English about living in Germany as an expat. We talk about services that are friendly and easy to use to beat German bureaucracy. We also cover the cultural aspects of living in Germany. All of this brought to you from the eyes of an expat and a German duo. We want to help you settle in Germany more smoothly.🍻
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[@kenocontreras]

I can talk from my experience. I applied at the beginning of this year at a company in Düsseldorf, I got the job, and the company helped me to get a work visa. The problem was that my degree was not recognized in Germany (I'm from Chile, and I have a CS degree, but not enough to be a bachelor's equivalent in Germany). Another option was to go for the IT Specialist Visa (you need 3 YOE in the last 7 years), so the company, with the help of a relocation agency, went for that path. The necessary documents for this visa are recommendation letters from your ex-employers and a CV in English. After that, the company or relocation agency (depending on your case) can apply for a pre-approval letter at the Federal Agency of Employment in Germany. It took about 3/4 months to get the letter, and after that, the agency sent me the physical document, and I was able to apply for the work visa at the local embassy. It's quite a long process, at least in my case, and this was primarily due to the current situation in the world (pandemic and war in Ukraine). But it can be done! The whole process took about 5/6 months, but I got bad luck because the letter took more than usual. I know other cases that were faster than mine. I'm a Data Engineer, and I found this position using Linkedin. If you have any questions, please let me know!

[@simplegermany]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and necessary steps on detail!! Another great example that it’s possible but that it takes some time for the bureaucracy to work its process 😉

[@LeandroLemos]

This is quite interesting you know (kind of looking into the same). After you got that letter, how much time was between the letter and the visa? (being that the letter alone was around 4 months)

[@shedgzz]

Hey Kenny. while you waiting for 6 months for this process to be done. Did you miss the starting date of the job. If you did, how did you emplyer response to that. ?

[@sr-xd8jb]

Hey I was wondering if its same for Indian Engineering degrees cause have seen many engineers with Electronics degree work in Germany. How to negotiate good salary as a fresher in Germany cause I don't want to move to a new country and live hard life there.

[@mendes068]

Quite the same for me, I'm from Brazil and my degree is not recognized in Germany, I apllied for the IT Specialist too but it "only" took 4 weeks. I'm Infraestructure enginner and also find this position using Linkedin

[@PeaceInAfrica]

Thank you so much for this video! You girls are Rockstars! I am a senior dev with a bit of German B2 and can't wait for my move to Deutschland. This channel has so many amazing videos, definitely adding this one to favorites for a re-watch later.

[@simplegermany]

Awesome! Thanks for your feedback. All the best for your move 😊🍀

[@thejuan7379]

The "IT Specialist" Visa, which I just went through, if you have no degree you just need 3+ years of experience in IT and the German language of B1 is waived as long as the business that hires you does IT/business operations in another language. Also need a salary of at least ~52k year.

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for sharing! 😊

[@CoconutwCoco]

Can you reapply for it ( u r talking abt the blue card right?) when u accumulate 3 years of experience in total after working in Germany for some time? Like u get a normal work visa with one yr related work experience in home country. After working in Germany for two years, if one reapply n get a blue card, one can still get the PR a bit faster than with normal visa (which requires 5 years of working in Germany I think).

[@thejuan7379]

@@CoconutwCoco I am not talking about the "Blue Card", because for that one you need a Uni Degree. I am talking about the "IT Specialist" visa which waives the requirement of a degree/language if you have at least 3 years of work experience.

[@t.l.c7481]

I‘m planning to move to Germany next year. I’m a User Experience Engineer. I currently work as a User Interface Designer for medical software. This is super helpful!

[@simplegermany]

All the best for your move! 😊

[@mauricio.csouza]

Find someone who looks at you the way Yvone looks at Jen during the videos LOL. Anyhow, thanks for the videos; they are super super!! They are really helping me a lot during my first days here in Munich.

[@ebbyc1817]

Great video. Just brilliant. Thanks guys.

[@jaredsynn9490]

Your timing with this video is amazing! After a 7 year break from software development due to burnout, I'm finally ready to go back into tech work. Since we're considering a move to Germany in the next couple years, this video is a huge help to me in deciding what I do and don't need to concentrate on. I've worked in various IT roles for 17 years without a degree, but I think I might finally get one anyway just to help me catch up with the changes while I was away. It's very encouraging to know that English is so prevalent out there for IT jobs. While I'd definitely give German some serious study (why would you live in a country and not learn the language?), it's a relief to know that won't hold my career back. Also, thank you so much for making these videos! I just spent 6 weeks researching different countries that we might move to, and your channel has more useful information in it than any other source I found. Germany is at the top of our list, and the two of you are a big part of helping it get there. All my love and gratitude to the both of you!

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for sharing your story! Something to consider is that depending on the university, some CS degrees are not 100% up to date. So to catch up with the software dev changes you can also watch some recent KZbin videos or do online courses.

[@jaredsynn9490]

@@simplegermany Oh, yeah, most college courses take so long to get through the approval and accreditation process that they're pretty out of date by the time students get to them. The online university I'm going to uses the current industry certification exam as the final exam for a lot of their courses, so not only are they fairly current, I'll come out not only with a degree, but with a collection of certifications, too. It's not bleeding edge, but it will get me close enough to go the rest of the way on my own.

[@anchouse94]

I was super curious about this kind of video from you two, thanks for making it!

[@simplegermany]

😊

[@lidstech54]

First of all, I love your channel! It's so fun and informative.🤩 And thanks a lot for this video with all these important tips and resources.

[@farooqlodhi1847]

Awesome content 👍 Plus deleting something from a production db is totally relatable 😅

[@andriiturchyn4354]

Thanks for an another great video. Also about the deleting the table being the junior software engineer, tbh you shouldn't even have had access to do it ;)

[@simplegermany]

Haha fair point! 😅

[@fanstalingibs5585]

Ive been honestly waiting for this video for so long. I don't have a degree😭 I in the IT field yet for some reason, i don't know how a software engineer....works I saw that there's a specific visa for IT professional experience and my heart JUMPED and honestly i almost cried. I see there's a path for me and im gonna fight for it!

[@simplegermany]

Go for it! 😊

[@GokhanSargnIO]

I am very thankful for the contents you guys make, lead me to learning more about Germany is great, you rock

[@turjo119]

I highly appreciate this video. I'm a student studying to be an Embedded Software Engineer and currently working as part-time in embedded electronics and IoT domain. I don't come from a typical SE or CS background and even though I feel competent enough for my current job I'm always worried about how things will be once I graduate and have to find full-time work. I plan to develop my skillset and my German proficiency but I want to restate that hearing the words from Jen (who was an international like me) gives me the courage I needed to drive forward! Vielen Dank fur Ihr video

[@simplegermany]

That’s great! Keep at it Rifat 😊

[@simplegermany]

🔥Get our German-Style CV Template in English: 👉www.simplegermany.shop/cv-template?

[@EricOnYouTube]

@ Simple Germany, I'd like to see you do a video on events like Polterabend and fischerfest and Walpurgisnacht etc.

[@PalmyraSchwarz]

Hi Jen, of course I've wondered from time to time what you two do for a living, but I wouldn't have guessed that you were a programmer. I can't even say why I didn't suspect that. I worked in IT for years and had many technically oriented female colleagues. Düsseldorf is an attraction for many American and Japanese IT companies and it actually made sense that you could be traveling in the area.

[@aliciasheerin231]

Thanks for the info! :)

[@paris8168]

I’m a gay woman living in the US and considering moving to Germany. I have about 4 years of experience in the tech sector and I can’t thank you enough for these videos. They are immensely helpful. Thank you.

[@henrique_zsp]

Great video ladies!! I just find it sad in my situation on moving to Germany next year. I somehow planned to finish a bootcamp in coding in Germany and be hired as developer by the end of the year. So your video opened my eyes that this probably won't work as smoothly for me... well I need to find another plan I guess

[@simplegermany]

Work hard, keep on learning, believe in it and you will find your way 😊

[@mysavingclub]

Good information provided

[@typicaldev]

Thank you for you the video. Used chatGPT with your videos and it was very helpful!

[@simplegermany]

How did you use chatGPT?

[@isaachatilima]

I love how Yvonne looks at Jen when she is talking

[@kalliakoukou6949]

Thank you so much! I'm a Greek physicist and I want to pursue a tech career in Germany. This video was very needed. You're the best ❤️ Jen I've got a couple of questions for you: Did you apply in a junior position as a first job? Or did you work as a trainee/intern in the beginning? If you were admitted as a Junior, how did you do that? Did you have a portfolio with work already done? Also, was the knowledge provided by the bootcamp enough to be comfortable with a coding position? Do you think it's a tough and stressful job? It would be useful to know from someone that's in this field.

[@simplegermany]

I worked as an intern at the beginning. The boot camp gave me a foundation, however I did not feel comfortable coding professionally. So I did other online courses on other platforms like Udemy and people like Wes Bos. In my experience, the most stressful position I had was in a startup. Other than that it was an ok amount of stress for me. Hope that helps 😊

[@fannychristozova8158]

I'm having a few mixed emotions with this episode. 😅But not about your content, it's wonderful! It's about so much time and efforts to get my best friend to make up his mind and really try, consider landing a job and move to Germany. I did mention him once and he respects you a lot. Gonna play this video to him. But he's just someone who doesn't believe he can make it, yet this is his field, plus he's good with languages. 😕 As for me, I have learned a lot being around him (and also some experience in a hosting company), but at least for now I don't feel like this would be my best playground, I have other ideas in the making, without taking any of dev-op opportunities off the table in the future. Really good summary and as you say, very well connected to your other topics! ⌨

[@simplegermany]

Oh yes! I remember you mentioning your best friend before. Tech is one path, but definitely not the only one 😊. I’m sure whatever you do will be good! -J

[@fannychristozova8158]

@@simplegermany Thank you! I'm being just careful, but definitely not afraid. You got me a little worried with this unusual absence, hope everything's fine. 😉

[@simplegermany]

Haha all is good! We were just having a beautiful evening with friends we haven’t seen in a long time 😉

[@fannychristozova8158]

@@simplegermany Thought so and hoped so! Very happy for you! It's just Monday evening and it wasn't typical of you not t react to anyone in no way. 😂 Cheers🍻

[@apexneuron8109]

3:19 You are explaining about the tech stack popular in germany. My question is, if we talk about mostly on skill basis, is Mobile App Development (Android/IOS) is popular (tech stack: Kotlin/Java, Swift) in germany among companies on a fresher level?

[@francisoyiogu164]

Great video! You guys never talk about Wolfsburg. I'm looking at moving there

[@marktrvls1218]

Interesting vid👍, if i was ever to work in Germany, think i would choose Berlin

[@MigalYaroslav]

very interesting. thanks

[@thedaily60]

Hola!!!! Hey I love your channel 😀😀 cuando haran otra reunión en Dusseldorf?? Quisiera ir yo también soy de Guate y vivo aca 😀

[@simplegermany]

Qué alegre que hay otra chapina por acá. En cuanto tengamos planes para otra reunión en DUS, lo comunicaremos por KZbin.

[@Aleksandra-kl4ps]

I’m starting my CS degree this fall in Poland, but I’m planning to move to Germany after my studies. This video was very helpful and cooled me down because I’ve heard that german employers in tech field don’t like hiring polish people, but maybe with your tips I’ll try to apply for jobs. Thank you. Could you tell us more about your beginning in tech in Germany?

[@simplegermany]

I’d say with the right application and skills you can land a job anywhere. So we’re glad you feel encouraged! Do you have specific questions about my beginning in tech in Germany?

[@thorstenguenther]

I have never heard of German companies not wanting to hire Poles. I am a lowly sales clerk only (so my Polish colleagues had to learn German to do their job properly), but basically most German employers are hiring anyone qualified.and willing to work, especially from.the EU, as this means no extra paperwork for them.

[@kingKabali]

Deleted a table from production and not fired. Anyone have similar experience?

[@fri7z_]

Hello. I am bus driver in Munich but I want to become a software developer (I know, big dreams 🤷‍♂️) Can you please make a video about how someone with zero experience can start a smooth journey to become a software developer in Germany? Thank you and all the best

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for the video suggestion, this could be an interesting topic for others as well. The video might take some time to come out. In the meantime, I can recommend to first figure out what king of developer you want to become (front end, back end). There is a cool video with an overview: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXOlYoyqrLR3ipI Once you have an idea, then you can either look for online courses or a boot camp. It’s a big, but very doable dream! Just take one step at a time 🙂

[@fri7z_]

@@simplegermany thank you very much 🙏

[@2slimj]

The easiest is to start from front end. I know the problems, issues and roadblocks of been self taught, cos Ive being there. Now I have 6years experience working as a fullstack developer for companies, currently freelancing though. Ive also taught a few people web development from various professions some with like no experience as in null, nada😄 The truth is that its not difficult, you just need dedicated time, right resources, willingness to learn & never give up spirit. If u need any help, You can give me a shout. I would gladly be of assistance.

[@fri7z_]

@@2slimj Thank you very much. I will let you know when I wil need help 🙏

[@2slimj]

@@fri7z_ 👍

[@nicholasmanning4307]

Note: a technical degree isn’t required for a Blue Card if you have extensive industry experience.

[@tydakid]

Hi . Wasngeths up I’m New York English:) nice vid

[@caterinalopez745]

Gracias chicas! Llegué hace poquito a Frankfurt y me gusta saber que acá pagan bien :) ¿Saben si el salario después de hacer un Ausbildung es igual al de Junior de menos de 3 años? Quiero aprender alemán este año y el próximo hacer un Ausbildung en Anwendungsenwiclung. Gracias!

[@chellastation]

I completely understand that Germnay is looking into tech and digital positions, do you have more positions outside of project manager or ux designer? Or is it on the article you have listed on this video?

[@simplegermany]

There are of course more positions. In the article we link to different job platforms where you can search for all kinds of jobs :)

[@chellastation]

@@simplegermany Thank you 😊 🙏

[@marynlyn]

"Smoothlies." Call your people "Smoothlies" : )

[@julianatorressanchez5250]

Can you talk about data analyst or data scientist?. Thank you

[@simplegermany]

They are in high demand as well 😊

[@Afala_akounou_3abdan_chakouran]

Please can you help my husband is a software engineer need a work in Germany

[@veganmonter]

Does Jen use a German keyboard or does she bring/use a Latin American or US keyboard? As a touch typist, I can't imagine typing on a foreign keyboard. Not even just the Z key on a German keyboard, but special characters like the pipe, double-quotes, curly brackets, the math operators are all on different keys. Heck as a US person, even a UK keyboard can throw me off with the pipe and at sign.

[@simplegermany]

I’m general, my laptop has a DE keyboard. However I set it to EN 😅. So even though the keys say something, I remember where the pipe and other weird characters are. That has worked so far. Currently I use an external mechanical keyboard which was originally in DE and I’ve swapped some keys to match the EN one and have set it as EN in the settings.

[@alihorda]

I work in Germany for 2 years now, in the start at the workplace there were only German keyboards and I couldn't even log in because I didn't find certain keys for password. Then I bought a German keyboard myself at home to practice

[@javierquiroga6774]

I am a Mexican guy, Back-end developer with 4 years of experience. Do you have any video where explains how to apply for a Job in Germany?

[@simplegermany]

We have a whole playlist, which you can check out here: kzbin.info/aero/PLnp3hGZLHcOWdFqddbduUQMC_y_CbP2QV

[@javierquiroga6774]

😅 I took a deep look at the info you provide on your website, thanks

[@rishisrinivasan8696]

Deleting a table from prod 😭🔥

[@TheInternetFan]

Hi there @Simple Germany, where did you get the table you show at 1:13 ? Can you please put a link to it for DevOps professionals too? Great content as usual, keep up the good work ;-) Ciao!

[@sebastianricardocox2217]

Thank you so much for this useful information! Could you also make a video about on how to settle into the job maket without a college degree and without EU passport?

[@itansutarlan9042]

can you make content about taking Ausbildung to get a software development position

[@Miguel-ve1lh]

Have you found any info on this?

[@fmango]

German IT salaries are not competitive, mostly when considering how much trouble you have to go through to permanently move or integrate in Germany.

[@pragmatic-pr]

will Linkedin help in getting a front-end job in Germany where work can be done remotely? For candidate h having 9+ years exp in js/react/node/c#

[@OfoeNelson]

Love the video and depth of information shared. My question is would a JavaScript dev with no university degree and no working experience still be able to get a work visa from outside of the European Union?

[@simplegermany]

The visa depends on whether you get a job. So the question is rather whether you would get a job, without a degree and any experience that is rather tough. Start working on individual projects and building experience yourself to increase your chances.

[@OfoeNelson]

@@simplegermany Aah ok. Thanks for the tip!

[@risithmarshall8654]

I have two years experience as software engineer in Sri Lanka. My plan is to come to germany as a student and learn from a applied science university course or follow computer science degree in a technical university. I need to know what option would be better in terms of getting job after the study finished? Thanks in advance 🎉🎉

[@jkb2016]

I should have become a frontend developer.

[@simplegermany]

You can still become one 😉

[@Moshware]

Nice video! But in my opinion there no better place working and living as a software engineer in Switzerland. :D Greetings from Zurich!

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for sharing!🙂

[@talalsadaqat]

I am nodejs Developer , is frony end developer getting more salary?

[@DnKZone]

Hey, Is there any way I can get into a company doing part time while continuing my bachelors?

[@user-zg4me3hj7k]

Ihr Video ist sehr gut. Akzeptieren Sie eine geschäftliche Zusammenarbeit?

[@proYen_]

Hi. I always appreciate your youtubes. If you dont mind, do you have any advice? I'm a 3rd year web developer and live in South Korea. I majored in German and lived in Germany for about a year and a half and have a German B2 certificate. But I haven't used German for about 5 years, so I've forgotten everything. Of course, I'll learn it faster if I use it. But my English is only that good. (Currently, my English is better than my German) I've been working as a developer in the financial industry, and I want to keep this career and move to Frankfurt, where, as you say, there are a lot of banks. If I had to choose between studying English and German, what do you think I should study? (For me, these two languages are very confusing and it's hard to learn them together)

[@simplegermany]

That's a good question. I'd say focus on German then :). That will definitely help you more in Germany than just knowing English.

[@lloyddelgado7870]

Thanks for the idea. I’m actually living here in Germany. and i want to change career to IT related jobs. But I’m already 32. I don’t know where to start… can you guys recommend site, where i can learn like JavaScript.

[@simplegermany]

It’s never too late to change careers, just think about all the years you still have to work. You could join a bootcamp or do some online courses from Wes Bos for example.

[@lloyddelgado7870]

@@simplegermany Vielen Dank. Keep up helping others. Wish you guys success. 👍👍

[@2slimj]

I could give you a hand. Im self taught Javascript fullstack developer with over 6years experience. Ive worked in various companies and currently freelancing I know the fears, frustrations and difficulties upcoming self taught devs have cos ive been there. Its actually not that hard you just need to dedicate time.

[@Miguel-ve1lh]

@@2slimjwould you be willing to help me out?

[@andrijanam.2254]

Hi ☺ Is there a possibility to find an entry position job as a qa tester with ISTQB certificate and no experience?

[@m_awadi]

Thanks for the video, but i think the information regarding the popularity of C# is completely wrong! Microsoft technology isn't common in Germany at all!

[@sabafj369]

Hi, is there any Ausbildung for software engineering or any IT specialty in general? Do German companies hiring for entry level jobs in IT? My profession is medical but I'm planning to shifting to the IT, in the meantime I'm learning German language because it's worthwhile. Thanks 😊🙏

[@diegofernando2267]

well i guess if u live there yeah, maybe. but if you are abroad maybe not, i mean, it is no impossible, but it will probably too hard to achieve, the company has to... say? justify? why it is hiring you and not someone from germany or the EU in general, so that's why it is probably better try to apply if u have experience working in the IT industry.

[@hussainkhan7958]

Which programming language is high demand in Germany 2023?

[@simplegermany]

Every company is different, however there are loads of jobs for Javascript (for front and backend), as well as Java, PHP, and Python

[@hussainkhan7958]

@@simplegermany for beginners what you suggest to learn which programming language and he/she start his career ?

[@shindeshubhamm]

How is the remote working culture currently in Germany?

[@bryaban]

how do i become a self taught software engineer. where do i start

[@simplegermany]

I talk about how I did it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIHUlH13p5V5bZosi=sKKez8rtwvfc_lz6

[@Suxanes]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm still finishing my Software Dev degree in U.S. hoping you move back to Germany next year. Do you know the exact website Germany use if my University is recognized there? Thank you

[@simplegermany]

You can try this website out: www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/en/index.php

[@ojiugooguzie1095]

Hi Jen and Yvonne, i really appreciate the great work you guys are doing here. I have a question. I want to take up a course in web development. Can you put me through please. Which online school is better and will be recognised here in Germany. Hope to hear from you and thank you very much😊

[@simplegermany]

If you learn programming outside of a computer science (or related) degree, then it doesn’t need to be recognized in Germany. So your best bet is to search for a resource that is affordable to you and has good ratings and curriculum.

[@ojiugooguzie1095]

@@simplegermany thank you very much for responding. I am currently on Hart 4 in Germany and i think the expense will be covered by jobcenter. Can you please introduce me to a good resource where i can do the course. I get alot o advert for Web development training but i'm a kind of confused to choose the right one. Thank you 😊

[@InternationalAiSportsNews]

What was your boot camp name

[@hassanhammoud754]

Actually the salaries are significantly higher

[@simplegermany]

They can definitely be! We are always referring to averages 😊

[@thejuan7379]

@@simplegermany I think that the averages are even significantly higher. I barely got 3+ years of experience and got a job that is higher than even the 9+ years of experience in all those cities and the job is at a small/medium city not in that list. Though I can say that front-end developing is paid lower salaries and I am in security

[@hassantijani5953]

Std::cout

[@shivamwagh1496]

10:40

[@presheva1234]

That's not true at all. Anyone who wants to move in Germany, need to know the language at least B2 and to have prior experience in the field 3+ years. Now I have reached 100+ application on Software Engineering postion, I got 0 interview. My github repo has really good project valued by Seniors. Be ready for the storm!!!

[@simplegermany]

Sorry you had that experience. It's true like we mention that Junior Software Developers are not as sought after as Seniors, but believe us it is totally possible to find a job as a Software Developer without speaking German in Germany. In other industries that might be different 😊

[@Hobbymusiker84]

It would be better if someone would come in Germany without having nothing and with hard work would be successful als a software engineer or anything else. But German companies have no patience. They prefer to import middle class engineers from all over the world instead giving a chance to someone that really had problems with poverty, war etc., and he is searching for a better life in Germany. That's a pity because the really poor people stay behind and the ones that are wanted here belongs to the middle class. Crazy world...still a nice presentation