How to live and work in Germany

Germany is a country that offers many possibilities and prospects for the future and in recent years has also convinced many Italians to take the plunge and move abroad. We are in fact talking about one of the European countries with the strongest economy and politics, with a high quality of life and excellent salaries, also thanks to the institution of a high minimum wage.
Here is all the information on how to move to Germany.

Necessary documents and requirements

Being within the European Union, moving to Germany is quite simple for an Italian citizen, as no special or difficult documents are required. To arrive in Germany and live there for the first 3 months, you will simply need your identity card and European health card. If you extend your stay and settle permanently in the country, you will have to apply for additional documents, which are especially necessary in order to work. Let's look at them in detail:

• Germantax code: in German Steueridentifikationsnummer. It consists of 11 digits and is assigned by the German state in order to identify each individual citizen;

• Certificate of residence: in German Anmeldung, to certify that you live in Germany.

Both documents are to be obtained from the registry office, in German Standesamt, of the municipality where you live. You will have to present yourself at the office with your identity card and a regular rental contract. In the absence of the latter, you may also submit a written and signed declaration stating that you are currently living in Germany. Once you have your Steueridentifikationsnummer you can obtain a new health card, activate health insurance and open a bank account or you can also open a VAT number and work as a freelancer.

Cost of living compared to Italy

On average, the cost of living in Germany is higher than in Italy, especially if you compare it to southern Italian cities or small provincial towns. However, the differences become much smaller when taking large cities such as Naples or Milan as reference.

Below you will find a purely indicative table to get an idea of the size of some common expenses.

Average salary and most popular categories of workers

Germany attracts more and more Italians mainly for two reasons: a higher average salary and the lowest unemployment in Europe. The average monthly salary is €2,780.00. Although the cost of living in Germany is higher than in Italy, always taking into account the city you move to, at the end of the month an average German worker manages to put aside more than an average Italian worker.

But which categories of workers are most in demand? Mainly engineers are in demand, both electrical and mechanical engineers, but also automotive engineers. After all, the automotive industry in Germany represents a large part of the economy, just think of BMW or Mercedes. Another sector in great demand is the hospital sector, with great demand for doctors and medical personnel. Finally, the third major sector is technology and IT.

In addition to these three big categories, there are other sectors that have a turnover of personnel and a demand that varies depending on the period and these are: construction, catering, metalworkers and e-commerce.

In which city is it better to live

Depending on the role you hold and the position you are looking for, there are cities that are more or less suitable. Let's see in detail, for each profession, which cities present the greatest possibilities:

• if you are an engineer: Munich and Bonn are the ideal destination for software engineers, for engineers specialised in transport Hamburg is excellent. If you are looking for a job in the automotive sector, move to cities where the headquarters of large multinational car companies are located;

• if you are a doctor or healthcare professional: you can go to cities that also have major universities, such as Frankfurt or Stuttgart, but also Düsseldorf. Here keep in mind that the competition is very high, so in this case you could also choose smaller locations, but the situation is to be evaluated from year to year according to the job offers;

• if you work in IT or communication: the best city is definitely Berlin, cosmopolitan, artistic and with lots of opportunities. It is also the perfect destination for freelancers, creative people or for entering the world of start-ups.

How to find housing and jobs

When you arrive in Germany for your first accommodation there are mainly two solutions: stay with German friends or relatives or look for a hostel or temporary accommodation on airbnb for the first period. During this first period you can start looking for a job and a permanent home, whether it is a shared flat or not. Let us see in detail how to do this.

How to find a house

You have several solutions for finding accommodation: word of mouth, Facebook groups and search sites. Certainly, looking for a first shared accommodation is a good solution to share expenses and to meet new people, also to practise your German if you have some roommates from Germany. Also, when you look at the adverts, pay attention to the proposed cost: many times the costs for bills and various expenses are not mentioned, so you should always budget a little more.

Once you have found accommodation, you will have to show an employment contract to apply for a rental contract, so that you can prove that you can guarantee payments every month. In the event that you do not yet have a job, you can resort to a Bürgschaft, i.e. a guarantee signed by a third party who can vouch for your reliability, even better if this third person is German or otherwise resident in the area.

If you decide to look for a house via web portals, here is a selection of the best sites:

• Immobilienscout24.de

• Mart.de

• WG-Gesucht.de

• Immowelt.de

How to find a job

Our advice is to start looking for a job when you are already in Germany. The first step is to translate your CV into German. If you are not yet comfortable with the language contact a professional, the CV must not have any mistakes.

The second step is to look for a job: you can do this via temporary agencies, employment offices or by searching on the web. The latter is certainly the most convenient and fastest solution, as every day you can find lots of advertisements in any sector, from catering to IT, but also freelance jobs and commissions. The sites are really numerous, here is a small selection according to the job you are looking for:

• for jobs at companies: monster.de, arbeiten.de, meinestadt.de, stellenanzeigen.de, job24.de, jobprofile.de;

• forfreelance, creative and marketing jobs: creativeset.net, creativecityberlin.de, kreativjob.net, multimedia.de, kjobs.de.

Moving to Germany without knowing German

Germany is now a cosmopolitan country and in big cities like Berlin English is widely spoken. However, knowing German is essential for those planning to move, and above all, you need to know it to a good level! This will allow you to enter fields such as engineering and technical fields, but also and especially the medical sector, where you will be in contact with German patients and will have to be able to communicate in the best possible way.

German is not a simple language, both because of grammar and the complexity of words. Whether you are a beginner at an entry level or you already have a good level but need to practise, the best solution is to take German lessons online at Preply, a platform that allows you to find teachers with whom you can have private lessons via live streaming. You can consult the list of available tutors and request a trial lesson with each of them, so you can choose a favourite.
In this way, you can arrive in Germany prepared, knowing at least the basics of the language, which will already be useful when applying for your initial documents.

Pros and cons of living and working in Germany

Germany is undoubtedly a country that offers so many prospects and possibilities, but moving to another place, far from home and everything you know, is certainly not easy. Before making a decision of this importance, it is necessary to analyse the advantages and disadvantages well.

At a glance: what it takes to move to Germany