Hi there, friends! 👋 Today I’m starting a new series of blog posts about working in Germany. I know, job hunting isn’t exactly everyone’s favourite topic. But it’s something almost all of us go through, and it’s a lot easier when you don’t have to do it alone.

I’ve been through the job search about six times myself: four internships, one job after finishing my master’s degree, and one when I lost my job during the pandemic and had to start searching all over again, right at the very beginning of it. Lucky me, right? 😅

In total, I’ve probably sent over 500 applications and received countless automated rejections 📩 that never said a word about why I wasn’t a good fit (even when I was a perfect fit and super excited about the opportunity). Somewhere along the way, I lost all hope, and just when I had almost stopped believing, one opportunity finally came through.

So for those of you who are in the middle of your own job search right now – you’re not alone, and it can get better. 💛

In this first post, I want to start with one of the most important topics: the job search portals 🔍 to use when you begin your search. Honestly speaking, every position I’ve ever had, I found on a job portal. Whether you’re a fresh graduate, looking for a career change, or have just been let go, the internet is where most of us start.

📌 A quick note: I wrote the first version of this post a while ago – you might still be able to find it lurking somewhere on my blog. But a lot has changed since then. For example, one portal I used to check for opportunities has disappeared completely! 😮 Job sites also sadly change fast and can become outdated.

🌍 The big ones – my top five!

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/ 💼
Hands down, one of my favourite places to search for a job. It’s a huge professional networking site for job search and learning. It has over a billion members worldwide. It’s mind-blowing how big it became in recent years.

These days everyone is on LinkedIn. I mean, it is a great way to stay in touch with past colleagues, collaborate with current ones, promote your company and do some job hunting along the way. You can fill your profile with your achievements, and some recruiters can also reach out to you if your profile matches their search. It happened to me a few times, won’t lie, but it didn’t work out because they thought at that time my German was fluent (which it wasn’t as you can guess). Just remember to keep your profile fully updated! There are free and premium memberships. The premium one gives you more opportunities, like learning, options to message people you are not connected to and so on. I used it for quite a while, but then quit it because I got a job and it was rather costly.

Indeed – https://de.indeed.com/ 🔎
Another great source for job search. It is a simple, down-to-earth solution with lots of new postings every day. I love it and placed it right after LinkedIn for a reason. It has company profiles and reviews, you can create a profile and upload your CV there, and it supports “easy apply” or sends you to the company’s own application page. I really like this one, mostly for how intuitive it is and easy to use.

StepStone – https://www.stepstone.de/ 🎯
This one is one of the most popular portals in Germany. I’d use it after Indeed and LinkedIn, but it’s definitely in my top 5. It has daily updates, a greater number of filters (language of the ad, city, contract type and more), a good number of English-speaking vacancies, and, even better, the portal itself is available in English! Yay! 🎉 And another goodie – it has a CV Generator as well, which offers the possibility to create your own CV on the portal. 📄

Glassdoor – https://www.glassdoor.de/ ⭐
A nice place to check company reviews, salary info and interview tips, and to submit your own anonymous review. The website also has job postings. Update: Glassdoor is now officially part of Indeed, so you’ll need an account to get full access, or if you already have an Indeed account, you can also merge your Indeed account into your Glassdoor one.

XING – https://www.xing.com/jobs 🇩🇪
This one is a mostly German-based network, similar to LinkedIn, with a decent amount of daily job postings and plenty of tips on job search. It’s especially popular among German-speaking employers. It also runs Lebenslauf.com, a CV builder where you can import your XING profile. Check what’s free before you spend time building your CV there.

🏛️ Official portals

Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) – https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/jobsuche/
This is the official government website for employment-related things in Germany. And it offers a pretty big selection of jobs. The search is available in several languages, but most vacancies are in German. You can search by type of offer, working hours and town, and subscribe to a newsletter. Just keep in mind that the selection of English-speaking jobs is considerably smaller.

Make It in Germany – https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/ 🇩🇪
The Federal Government’s website, with lots of useful articles for expats and job listings that come from the Federal Employment Agency’s board.

EURES – https://eures.europa.eu/ 🇪🇺
This is the European Job Mobility Portal, which covers not just Germany, but the entire European Union. You’ll find tons of info about working in different countries, job listings, and a CV tool.

💡 Bonus tips

💡 A tip that’s not about portals: Some people told me about another idea that sometimes works: reaching out directly to the HR team or a recruiter of the company you’d like to work for, and asking about the position you’re interested in or any current openings. LinkedIn makes this easy. Keep your message short, polite and specific, and don’t take it personally if nobody replies. It doesn’t always work, but it costs nothing to try. In Germany, this is even a known approach, called an Initiativbewerbung (unsolicited application). 📨

💡 It is also always good to check the company reviews to understand whether this company is a good fit for you or not. Some portals also allow you to see how the interview process went and you might get some basic understanding of what to expect. Here is where you can check those:

• Indeed.de – has a section where you can see current ratings of companies and reviews from people who used to work there. (https://de.indeed.com/companies)
• kununu is also worth checking for employer reviews (https://www.kununu.com/de).
• Glassdoor – has a pretty solid amount of company reviews. Also, which I find pretty useful and cool, has some extra sections like top employers of different regions and cities, top employers by industry and comparison of some companies (https://www.glassdoor.de/).

📚 What’s coming next

This is the first post in the series about working in Germany with many more to come. In the next posts we will discuss CV creation and the interview process, I will share with you my first internship experience, and tell you about my semester in the Czech Republic 🇨🇿 and the secret language in German reference letters. 🕵️

I wish you good luck with your job search! 🍀 I truly believe you will be able to land the job of your dreams. Just believe, keep trying and do not give up. The universe is just waiting to give you the right opportunity! ✨ If I missed any job portal that you can recommend, I am all ears and would love to hear your feedback. 👇