In this post I would like to talk about how I moved to Germany, to Berlin, how I found a job and got a Blue Card, and what kind of underwater people can expect who decided to repeat my path. I hope that my article will be useful to you if you want to get a new, interesting, professional IT experience.
Before starting, I would like to express special thanks to the author of the post . I was able 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 example of my experience of the changes that occurred several years later.
Why is it 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 on hand. And on March 15, 2018 flew to Berlin. A 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 2 weeks after arrival in Berlin.
Here you can find a list of the main documents for this visa. And here is the general visa information. Data is constantly updated.
I’m not the first to say this, but you can’t argue - the psychological attitude is important. You need to have a desire to do what you intended, it will be visible to others and the future employer, which will only increase your chances of success.
But first things first.
Requirements
1. Higher education
If you want to get a visa to look for work, you need to check your diploma here . This is a database of universities. Find your university and your specialty, and if H + is opposite your university and you see your specialty on the list, then congratulations, you have every chance of getting a visa to look for work. Immediately print out information on a specialty and university, it will come in handy at the time of submitting documents. But do not despair if you do not find your university and your specialty on the lists. There is a lot of information on the Internet on 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 in Germany.
2. Experience by profession
If the experience is rich, then the level of demand grows exponentially.
I am a mobile developer of iOS and Android. And at the time of applying for a visa, I will not say that I was very strong at that. Half a year of commercial development experience was barely gained, but that was enough for me to still be in demand on the market. Moreover, my past profession for 6 years was closely connected with the design of engineering networks, where I joined the 4th year of university, and I came to IT through 1C when I was 26 years old, having my own reasons to change my field of activity. Starting in July 2017, I became interested in and actively began self-training in mobile development, having mastered several online udemy courses.
3. Foreign language
If you can speak / write in English, this will be more than enough. The minimum is to understand what they say to you and be able to answer in a simple way. One of the documents required for a visa is a letter of motivation in which you must indicate the level of knowledge of German. 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 among everyday life. You can live only in English, since 95% of Berliners are fluent in it.
I always had a good relationship with English, so I did not observe communication problems. But German has not studied since birth. And before the trip, for the sake of general development, 1 month was like German language courses, and at the same time I studied with DuoLingo.
4. Cash
According to the data for September 2019, it is necessary to have an amount on 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 directly to renting an apartment (deposit and payment from one to several months in advance).
5. Other
Focus on the required documents specified 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, they asked me if I knew anyone in Berlin, and if I was already trying to look for work. Both questions were answered “yes” and therefore, I was asked to provide the data of my friends (passports and visas), as well as a copy of electronic messages with companies with which I had already managed to communicate remotely. I’ll tell you more about this below. It is very important that there are no large temporary gaps between professional activities, a work book will show this. If, for whatever reason, such a temporary gap appears, then it is necessary to argue why it was. For example, training courses took six months, if so, then attach a certificate.
Getting a visa
Well, the embassy’s website has been reviewed, the list of documents has been examined, money has been found and the euro account has been opened, and the university has been verified 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 filing, 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 job search and about my friends in Berlin. And asked to send information by email.
In Moscow, I decided to respond to various vacancies at XING and LinkedIn. Most of the companies ignored me, some immediately sent me 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 sent them by e-mail to the embassy. That was more than enough.
My documents were quickly examined and a day later I took the finished visa, which I was issued immediately for 6 months. National visa, type D.
Once the visa is on 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,
- 1 week hotel reservation
- Sberbank card and cash amount (keep in mind that cash in Germany is more like cards)
- a suitcase with things
- spirit of adventurism.
Upon arrival in Berlin
1.1 Phone
In any large Lidl / Aldi / Edeka discounter, etc., you can buy prepaid sim card. On each package there is an instruction on how to activate a SIM card yourself. As an option, you can buy a SIM card in the Vodafone / Telekom / o2 communication salon, the SIM card is activated, but you will pay for the services. I bought myself at Edeka Blau AllnetS, I still use it.
1.2 Travel
It is very likely that it would be interesting to shoe yourself with information on how to save on travel. Here you will find everything related to tickets and public transport or as they say here Öffis. I bought a monthly pass Monatskarte VBB-Umweltkarte zone AB.
2. Search for housing
Here and here - these are the main resources for finding housing in Berlin, as an option, you can try to place an ad on Facebook in this group .
I had no particular 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 friends, because some of the ads were in German. But in the end, on the third day after arrival, I found the apartment myself. I was lucky because the announcement was the freshest, not longer than a couple of minutes, and the owner’s phone was visible, which I copied to the sheet, and for good reason, because right after the page was updated, the phone number disappeared. When I called the author of the ad, he was very surprised that I managed to call, because he had hidden 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 inviting me to see the apartment. The owner’s decision was in my favor, because I quote: “You are an IT specialist, you will definitely not be left without work, therefore I am ready to rent you an apartment. Come. " On the same day, I inspected the apartment, signed a contract for 3 months and paid immediately 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 Bürgeramt and make Anmeldung einer Wohnung (registration in the apartment). You go to the site and select from the list Bürgeramt, in which you want to assign a term (Termin - record).
You must have 4 documents with you:
- passport,
- rental agreement
- your statement Anmeldung bei der Meldebehörde
- required from the owner of the apartment Einzugsbestätigung des Wohnungsgebers (Vermieter).
Unfortunately, in my case, the closest term was a month later, but at that time Bürgeramt Rathaus Neukölln accepted without an appointment, it was necessary to stand an hour in a live queue.
You receive the registration paper immediately, within 5-10 minutes.
By and large, registration is needed in order to receive letters in the mail, important documents come by mail. Therefore, make sure in advance that your surname is on the rented apartment, in the mailbox. Some companies that send you letters may charge you for not finding your mailbox when the postman tried to deliver you a letter.
The money for the remaining days, the hotel refunded me.
The next step is a job search.
3. Job Search
berlinstartupjobs , XING , LinkedIn , Indeed - on these sites I tried to find a job, and most interestingly, most of the vacancies were eventually duplicated on LinkedIn. There is also a passive search option through honeypot , talent platforms, but this option is suitable for experienced developers and those who are in no hurry.
You can always visit IT enterprises, the list is here . Often companies really conduct 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.
In the end, I focused on LinkedIn and found my company, which I continue to work in.
Summary
In the resume, they will be waiting for the results that have been achieved in past jobs.
The entire amount of information needs to fit on 2 pages. Ideally, if a resume is done on 1 page, with design and soul, it really catches the eye. The same goes for a LinkedIn profile. Be sure to photograph with a friendly expression. The expected salary level should be indicated in the cover letter.
Covering letter
Very often, it’s not enough just to click “Respond” to an interesting vacancy, almost always you will be sent to the company page where you need to fill out their own profiles. And often they offer to attach a cover letter to the questionnaire. A cover letter will play a big role if you reveal topics why this particular company hooked you, why you and what you can hook them with. It is necessary to 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 to use as an application. A large number of documents attached to the letter separately is scary.
Feedback
In total, I responded to vacancies of 100. And I still receive answers from some companies with a proposal to talk. Here everything goes smoothly, 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. About 100 Mobile Developer jobs, 5 times more for Web Developer (Front> Backend).
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 chat, but first by phone. After talking with HR, it was planned to communicate with the company's IT staff in a few days. After talking with the IT team, it was suggested 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, after a week 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 phone in a week. I was just waiting for the result of my test tasks, and I could not refuse the pleasure of talking with another company. Only this time, I replied in a letter that I would not mind immediately coming to the office so as not to lose 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 asked 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 had a tour of the office. And in the evening of the same day I received an offer from this company, which I could not refuse. Since at that time, I was not a good developer, I was offered an offer of 42k per year - it was a bit above the border to get a Blue Card. The proposal was received on March 28, 2018, and I signed the contract on April 1, 2018. Together with the contract, I received another document describing my work and my company. This Stellenbeschreibung document (position description) 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
Having a contract in my hands, I went to Sparkasse to open an account, but, unfortunately, when I arrived, there was no free English-speaking employee for paperwork, so I was assigned the term every other day. A day later, I came with a signed contract from my employer and after 30 minutes I was opened an account. I was told that a letter with a pin code will come to the post office, and then after a few days the bank card itself.
Insurance
Of the insurance companies, I chose TK (Techniker Krankenkasse), showing a work contract, I was issued as their client, and I was assured that the card will arrive within 1 week, but I received it in 2. Prior to that, I received a letter with a PIN code to activate my account .
Social number
A paper with a social number arrives by mail, 1 week after registration at Bürgeramt.
Tax number
I was assigned a tax class at the time of signing the contract, I did not have to go anywhere, my employer took care of this. And a few days later, a paper with a tax number came to my mail.
Blaue karte
All documents on hand, it's time to get the coveted card. It was necessary to go to ABH (Ausländerbehörde). I did not take care of the recording, and the nearest free one could be only after 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 the mail, finally my insurance card came. I went again to the site and after reading the information about receiving the Blue Card again, I decided to just come without a term with a package of documents, arguing that the contract has already been signed and they are waiting for me. “I can only ask” found its place in office 404, where they told me that now it’s enough to send scans of all my documents by e-mail and after 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, the answer came to me that I can work, but for this I need to go to the ABH again, pay 100 euros for data processing and receive paper, while my card is being prepared. April 26, I received this paper and had every right to work. April 27 went to work.
Timing
February 26, 2018 - applied for a visa
February 28, 2018 - received a visa
March 15, 2018 - flew to Berlin
March 17, 2018 - moved into the apartment
March 28, 2018 - job offer
April 1, 2018 - signed a contract
April 12, 2018 - went to ABH and sent all documents by email
April 26, 2018 - approval from ABH
April 27, 2018 - went to work
June 6, 2018 - received a Blue Card
By the way, the action of the Blue Card originates from the moment of receipt of the work permitting paper.
That's all. I hope the information was useful and useful to you.
From other sources of information, this one really helped me.