Moving from the U.S. to Germany and finding a job

Can anyone who has moved to Germany from the states tell me about there moving and how they did it, how easy/hard it was? We are wanting to relocate to Bavaria and would like any useful information. My husband sent his resume to Aeroteck I believe it was, he is an Engineer and we thought that might be a plus or an easy way to get into Germany, though we havent heard back from them yet. Would anyone know of any other places to send in a resume in the Nuremberg area for Engineering jobs or maybe a good site to check out for those kinds of jobs. Any help will be appreicated. Thanks.

A while ago I wanted to spend a few years in Europe. I talked to some European colleagues that I had gotten to know while working in Paris and Moscow and had a job offer in a matter of hours. When I went to register, the German government gave me lifelong residence. The whole process was laughably easy but I'm certain that my experience is the exception. If only the leaving process were so easy (canceling utilities, insurance, and deregistering isn't very fun).


Germany, and continental Europe as a whole, need far more engineers than they have. There are many Americans and other non-EU nationalities working at DLR, Siemens, BMW, Airbus, EADS, etc. That said, unless the company is American, British, or international enough to warrant English in the office, he's gonna have to speak German. There's no way around it.


What does he do now? What is his specialty?

He has just finished welding school but he has done Maintenance/Mechanical Engineering for the last 30 years.

I'm going to tag along on this thread. I just joined the site today, and am starting from square one, absolute scratch.
I'll try not to ask too many idiotic questions.

What is it you do? Are you wanting to move to Germany too? Thats where we are really is starting out at scratch and trying to get some things figured out before we do the big move. I want to have as much knowlege as I can before we try it. I really want it to work and will try to do what I can to make it happen. My bestfriend is there and we so want to live closer to them, they are like family to us.

I am a musician, photographer, and studio audio engineer/producer. I spent about a decade in broadcast engineering, as well.
At the root of my desire to move, is my disappointment and distrust in what America has become. I have really grown tired of our culture, and want to live elsewhere, broaden my mind some more, live a different existence. Maybe even get a chance to be me, instead of something else that I don't want to be.

oh, so he's not a university-trained engineer? not to be snobby, but german companies like their certifications. I'm not sure how much his on-the-job training will compete with the other 15% unemployed in this country, including those with qualifications. and if your partner is 45+, he'll have a hard time finding work here. as ridiculous as this sounds for some reason the mentality in this country is only young people are employable.

Oh, he went to Engineering school in the U.P. he has an Engineering degree and has done Civil/Maintenance, some Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. He has a bachelors degree, if that means anything. Then he has 8.5 years in the military of doing these things too. Does or will any of this help?

Well, hell...I'll be 45 in a couple of weeks, and don't anticipate being able to get over there for some time...especially since the dollar is worth crap right now.

Happy happy joy joy.

To funny! Well he is over 45, so does that mean, it is looking bad for us? Ok, if it is, would retiring over there be a better choice, perhaps? Maybe we should just shoot for that then?!?!? Any ideas here on that? I am just kidding ofcourse, trying to keep my humor. I just cant and wont give up till I am in Germany!! I am one determined person, those are the kinds that get things done, I believe.

at my first job, the company was actually on the verge of bankruptcy and i said to one of our IT guys, he was lucky, he would have no probs finding a job and he said, because he was 42, it would be hard for him to find new work, so he had to stay where he was. i of course rolled my eyes, but heard the same from a female colleague who was 45 who said the same thing. it's not impossible, but the trend is, if you are unemployed at 50, that's it. you'll never get another job again.

i refuse to believe this, but I am not German. I'm looking to change careers now at mid-30s and I have had a few German friends tell me that is a bad idea.

Because of these problems many "old" Germans emigrate to Denmark, Holland or Austria.
Would that be an alternative for you?
You still can visit Germany. There are no borders, there is only one currency, so no problems from that side.

Hmmmm, lots to think about here. Now I guess I am concerned where I wasnt before. I guess living closer to Germany as to not live there (well it really stinks thinking of it) but if there was no other way, I guess that would have to be the only way then. But, I am not ready to give up yet. I will keep trying and looking and reading. I dont think I have ever read so much on one topic for so long as I have been reading about going to Germany and what it will take to ge there. I just want to know all I can and have my facts straight is all.

I felt that way once upon a time. It took leaving to realize how good I really had it. Now I'm headed back and I'm counting the days until I hit U.S. soil - it's been good but I'm glad my time here has come to an end.

I'm not sure what "American culture" is considering how expansive the country is. I've lived in New York, Tennessee, and Texas and each one is as radically different from the other. Might I suggest something a little less drastic, like perhaps moving to a different city? Whatever you end up doing, good luck with it.

Id say thats a rather German attitude: "harder to get work if you are over 50 or 45 or 40 or 35, or...

I had a German drawing in his breath sharptly and tutting "schwierig, schwierig" to me to when I asked him about finding a new job in Germany when I was 35. Yet since then Ive gone on to enjoy an excellent career. And I intend to continue changing jobs and freelancing well into "rentner" time as well.

But I also had an idiot recruitment consultant in London telling me I would not get a job because I was now 26 and with that over the magic limit of 25 and so therefore no more hope for me.

This ageist nonsense will soon be outlawed EU wide and attitudes will have to change given the increasing proportions of older people in the population. The most important thing is not to let yourself be discouraged by stuck-in-the-mud attitudes. If you stop and listen to these people you would not do anything in life. So just get on and do what you want to do. Make it happen!

There is nothing wrong with trying to find work in Germany while you are still in the US, but (assuming you are both only US citizens) yes, it will be quite difficult. Just make sure you don't move here without one of you having a job that pays enough to support the entire family (you probably would not even think of that, but just wanted to stress that for future perusers of this thread).

Well, thanks. We have been submitting resumes to a usajobbanks for over there and havent heard nothing back yet. We are always looking for more sites to submit resumes to. It also helps that my husband will still be recieving his disability pay from the military which is enough to pay rent over there or make a house payment which it does here in the states quite well, with extra to pay other things. So, that will always help cushion it all too.

Just a word of caution- houses generally cost a lot more in Bavaria than they do in most parts of the US, especially for people who receive disability payments in US dollars. Don't forget to watch the exchange rate.

"I felt that way once upon a time. It took leaving to realize how good I really had it. Now I'm headed back and I'm counting the days until I hit U.S. soil - it's been good but I'm glad my time here has come to an end."

When did you leave the US? Why? What did you do in Germany?

"I'm not sure what "American culture" is considering how expansive the country is. I've lived in New York, Tennessee, and Texas and each one is as radically different from the other."

If I have to define American culture, then you cannot (and probably won't ever) see it, and the effort will be lost.

January 2004. I got poached by the German government to do a job very similar to what I was doing for the US government - but for more money as the relevant experience is lacking in Germany.


Having spent as long as I have abroad and given how many places I've been (35 countries) I think I could argue that I see it with a clarity and perspective that very few others have.

I think letting your nationality define who you are is a bit silly.

I recently hired a 53-year-old guy in my department ... and he's awesome. Find a place with a non-German boss and you'd doubtless be fine.

The biggest issue one faces as a (well-paid) US citizen employee in Germany is double-taxation and issues with estate taxes once you cross the 10-year tax treaty grace period. I'd assume that for folks your age, you're fully vested into Social Security and any existing retirement plans. If you move over here and work for a German company, you'll have to vest into any public/private plans here (usually five years). The German authorities just made me produce high school and college transcripts (!), as well as sign a paper allowing them to contact the US Social Security administration so that they can appropriately clip my eventual Germany retirement benefits accordingly.

The friction costs are huge: 1) You realistically can't do your own tax preparation anymore, 2) you need to spend a bundle on estate preparation, 3) without a German spouse, you'll have to do battle with all kinds of bureaucracy on residency, registration, drivers licenses, and 4) the "tax wedge" here is astronomical (no-state/city-tax-adjusted income/investment tax rates vs. the likely Obamarama rates are in line, but you're looking down the barrel of 19% VAT on virtually every purchase and 86 cent/liter gas tax that has us at c. $9.00/gallon at present). All those smooth-as-a-baby's-behind Autobahnen and steam control on 18 million ex-communist layabouts doesn't come cheap.

Don't want to dissuade you, but I'd strongly suggest you be very wealthy with most of your assets percolating away in the US before you venture over for a spell in the Socialist Workers Paradise.

Which will help broaden echohaus' experiences...



I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation...

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...