18-year-old Aussie coming to Germany for a year

Hello all.
Firstly I'd like to say you have a great forum going with loads of information, I have also searched for this, but to no avail for my needs.
My names Daniel, I'm 18 and I finished year 12 last year and have taken a year off to save money to take a risk in life and experience a
different culture. I have booked my flights and will be leaving Sydney on November 15th for a 12month stint in Germany, hopefully longer
if I can find fulltime work that will allow me to be self-sufficient. I have no family over in Europe and only friends I met whilst they were
travelling through my town after World Youth Day 08. I will be visiting them in Spaichingen upon my arrival and wouldn't mind staying around
this area as I know people already, but have no worries in moving elsewhere in the region or even country if it means work. I have no trade
certificate or diploma's, but have all my welding and fabrication certificates from completing 4 years of TAFE (tertiary education provider), 3
years of experience within retail aswell as being self taught in car audio aswell as car modifications, such as chassis fabrications. I know having
these skills present within Australia helps me gain employment, but seeking a long term, full-time job in Germany may be different? My German
is horrible, but am currently doing 3 courses, one online, one self taught and one through a tutor. I am giving up my University plans for next
year to try something new and don't want to get there and have to come home within 2 months due to not having enough money to keep myself
going due to no work. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Cheers
Daniel

Working Holiday Visa (WHV) ...

Daniel's post brought out the mother in me...

So what are you going to do when you get here? Have you got enough money to survive on if you don't find work? Do you have the right Visa? It is amazing to read that, it seems, you have next to no knowledge about your immigration status and employment prospects over here or the laws relating to same - yet you've even booked your ticket! Wow, this young man must be brave or... I do hope you have done a bit more than just blindly booking your ticket. Perhaps after reading the web you might be a little wiser about how little you know and your need to do more research about your options. Perhaps you ought to think about dipping your toe into learning German? This will cost you money. You should be looking around at organizations who can help you find temporary work on a Working holiday visa. You might also want to consider the need or the opportunity to work in other countries. Do let us know how you get on after some months of being here. Good luck!

Yes I have a working holiday visa (WHV) with sponsorship from my family incase I run into financial issues. Have made numerous emails and phone calls to the German Consulate here, I would go visit in person, although working 2 jobs all week and sometimes weekend work, I don't have the time. As for learning German, that is what I was referring too when I am doing 3 courses, one online course, one self taught from books such as "learning basic German" and also have a tutor here that is helping me learn. I also have some friends who live in Germany who offered to put me up with accommodation whilst looking for employment, and if the worst comes to worst, I can always return home early, although I hope it doesn't come to this. Sorry, I should have made my original post much clearer as to the details of what I have done. Again, Sorry but thankyou for the help so far. Also, do you have any more information on organisations that can help find me temporary work? I don't really care what I'm working as, anywhere from working in a bar, to being a labrouer for a construction site, I am really giving this a shot to experience what life is like on the otherside of the world and immersing myself within a totally unfamiliar culture for personal growth aswell as being able to say that I have given other options ago whilst I still can before settling into a fulltime job or University here and becomming dependent on my life here to keep myself happy. I have always been bought up with the sense of living life with no regrets and always had a facination with Europe, knowing people in Germany made it the easier choice as I don't want to go to London or America as Australia has picked up on so many of their cultures I don't think I would really sense any GREAT change apart from the obvious accents and physical surroundings. I hope this gives a little bit more of an insight as to why I am coming.

You'd probably have no trouble picking up such work in London where the langauge is no barrier but the thing about working in a bar or as a labourer is that you will need to be able to speak some German. You also need to think about the related stuff. Earning income means doing a tax return (all in German) etc. How will you deal with that?

My advice would be (1) to enrol and a language course when you are here and (2) use your contacts who are already here to find work.

I know a few young migrants here from all over the world whose German in limited and who have found basic work - bakeries, McDonalds etc - so it's not impossible. Contacts are critical.

Remember that some fields are competitive even if low paid. As one who has seen my new home built, it's clear that there are lots of Eastern Europeans and North Africans prepared to work for little money.

Hey,

I say just go for it. Im an 18 year old kiwi in munich, staying here for a year. It's great.

It will be fine. In big cities there are quite a few jobs in hostels and in tourism. Just do it!!

Go to London instead Daniel.

Yeah, but it doesn't look like Spaichingen is a big city. Apologies to the Ba-Wü'ers out there, but that really does look like the middle of nowhere!

Don't get me wrong - I also live in the middle of nowhere, and I also lived in a pretty small town when I first came to Germany. But that left me very dependent on my girlfriend, her friends, and her family when I arrived here. They helped me find a job, where I worked as a bicycle mechanic, and were pretty much the only people willing to take the time to speak English with me.

You're definitely showing the right sort of commitment to learning German, and you'll need every bit of it. The more you can do before you come the better you will adapt to the culture shock.

One other option is to consider is splitting your gap year 50/50 - work casually in England and working on your German, then coming across after 6 months later when you are at least capable of conversation.

Also, Swimmer speaketh the truth - you need all the advantages you can get. Can you lean on your friends gently to start asking around for work for you?

Yes, I have been in contact with my friends there and they said they will all help me get on my feet and get it running to ensure I will be right. The language barrier is my main problem, although I am trying my hardest to get by it and figure this is one of the reasons why I choose Germany over England. I want to experience a whole different culture that will help me grow as a person. If I can become decent with my German, no doubt will later on help me in my career if I decide I want to move over for good and job hunt for a sustainable income.


I am not saying I will stay in Spaichingen, only for a while to hang out with them and catch up. At the end of the day, I am willing to go and work in Stuttgart, Munich, even Berlin, anywhere where I can get a job really. I think that moving there for a while to catch up will also be easier for me to adjuct to the differences due to me living in a small rural town in Australia that is heavily dependent on mining. 22,000 people live here, so living in Spaichingen would be easier for me to get used to rather then jumping straight into Munich.


Probably is.. its not really my gap year. I have had a year off already to work 2 jobs and sometimes 3 to get money to be able to afford to do this. Ever since I started looking at photos and meeting people from Europe, I knew it was a place I'd love to see for an extended period of time. I figure, its better to do it now while Im young and dont have anything holding me back such as a family or house mortgage etc. I have no debts here and nothing to hold me back to experience a different culture.

Any more help or advice would be great if you have any! Thanks alot for all the answers so far, making me feel more confident that I am not making a mistake.

Good on you! Plenty of Germans speak a little bit of English, and I'm sure that anyone your friends put you in contact with will be prepared to make an effort with you, especially once they see the effort that you're making to learn German.

Rural towns in Germany are nothing like rural towns in Australia, but hey - that's why you're coming over here, right?

Take the plunge. With an attitude like yours things are likely to work out fine. And if they don't - well, it sounds like you're prepared for that too and you'll still have had the experience. Keep an eye on Toytown too - there are benefits to immersing yourself completely in the culture here, but if you find yourself drowning, TT can give you some relief.

Hi Daniel, my husband came to Germany when he was 21. He had the choice between London, Brighton and Frankfurt. He choose Germany because of the greater cultural difference. He is very happy here in Europe and being an Australian has always been a benefit for him as everyone always wanted to work with him. He works in the advertising industry but I am sure the German's love for Australians covers all fields. Good luck to you!

Ah, it might look like the middle of nowhere... but it's where Baden-Württembergs political elite comes from. Uh... or something like that.

The entire area is in the hands of the same Seilschaft that has ruled BaWü for the past 30 years, and Spaichingen is where Grandmaster Teufel resides, and which has been ruled by the Teufel brothers continuously since 1964 until a few years ago when both resigned, one brother as state prime minister, the other as local mayor. Note this awesome distribution in the local parliament too, where conservatives (CDU, FWV) have 16 seats, and the other two parties (SPD, Greens) each have a single grace seat. Oh, and to emphasize where certain parties come from - the leader of the Greens in state parliament is also from Spaichingen.

At least you can hike up the Dreifaltigkeitsberg. 2 Kilometers at 40 degrees sloped straight upwards (serpentines? what's that?), with a chapel for praying every 150 meters. And the target at the top is a monastery of course.

Thanks for all the advice and support so far. It's greatly appreciated. If you have anymore info that you think could prove useful to me or even recommendations as to where I should try to find employment within Germany please let me know, I am not restricted as to where I live, just thought it would be nice to be in visiting distance of my friends already there. Again, thankyou very much! You have all got me very excited about the move!

Spaichingen is on the railroad Stuttgart - Zürich. There are more remote places.

This region has also a strong industrial base with lot's of export orientated industries. E.g. nearby Tuttlingen is a leading centre for medical technology with some 400 companies offering products in this field. Tuttlingen based companies hold e.g. a share or 55% of the world market for handheld surgical instruments. So far for small towns in the middle of nowhere in Ba-Wü.

Just having read though everything again aswell as reading many sites about job searching in Germany, most places that advertise for positions online are after people in a preofessional field or with experience and/or a degree. Being an avid and keen photographer, and one highly endulged in extreme sports from mountainbiking to snowboarding, would there be many opportunities for 'foreigners' to gain employment. As I know during winter it is fairly easy for an Australian to get a job as a lift operator or snow field attendent in the Australian slopes or in Canada, is there many places like that in Germany? Having read over this webpage, wikipedia and various searches through google, yahoo etc, I cannot find too much information about these areas, being photography and work in the snow seasons. Does anyone on here have any information that might be of use to me about the snow season in Germany, in particular, a website noting some of the larger ski field in Germany that I could get in touch with to inquire about winter work. Again, sorry if any of these questions seem stupid, but my move is getting closer. Danke

Daniel, I have been here for 8 months and love Munich. I came to a job so a different siutation to you but have met a number of people who just came here and are "winging it". With the right attitude, you will survive. BTW there is an Aussie group here in Munich that you can link up with when you get here. Mainly social but you never know what contacts you m ight find.

I came back to Oz for WYD and found it great and met a great bunch of folks from around the world as well.

Keep in touch and good luck.

Lift operator etc. is usually a winter job for the local farmers, I 'd think it's not easy to get into this. You might find opportunities as a waiter in the restaurants/bars and huts of the ski resorts, or maybe at the tourist information centers where you could take care of the english speaking crowd.
There are a couple of skiing/snowboarding events in the alps which may need a helping hand (Nokia Air and Style in Munich and Innsbruck). You should of course not limit your search to Germany, Austria has lots of skiing resorts (don't know what restrictions they have for non-EU members seeking work, though). For Germany, consider Garmisch Partenkirchen ( lots of guests from the US, the US military runs the Edelweiss Lodge in Garmisch), for Austria Innsbruck, Kitzbühel or Ischgl are some of the big resorts with lots of international guests. Check their websites, they usually have a section 'Jobbörse' or something like that, or contact their tourist information centers, they should be able to give you an idea where to look.

Actually the more correct term would the World Catholic Youth Day.... From Wikipedia:

Thankyou for the reply kwenga. I have only obtained a WHV for Germany, how would I go about working in Austria in the snow fields for the winter if I was able to attain a job.

You would have to apply to Austria for a visa, and as I understand it, they do not have such a program for young people down there.