Getting work in Jena without speaking German

Hi Everyone, I joined this forum because I 've been in talks about a possible job in Jena in Germany. Just wondering if any one here knew much about the place. The problem is I have no German whatsoever! (More interested in the job than the country only because I ve actually never been to Germany before!). The job would be in the university . Would the younger generation speak English? Is the cost of living high? Anyone have any objective opinion on what the town is like? Any help would be appreciated, thanks a lot. Living in Ireland at the moment, just finished a PhD.

1) The search function is your friend.

2) Jena is in Thüringen, not Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Moved it for ya.

Jena is a wonderful little place and has a train every hour to Berlin and Munchen. The cost of living is pretty low compared to Dublin. 2 room flat with balcony 400€ warm (per month). The uni will help you out with finding stuff I'm sure. There are quite a few historical buildings, Wagner hung out there, a highly rated contemporary theatre, lots of student life and the great outdoors not to mention the river for water sports or the surrounding hills for a spot of mountain bike excercise or horse riding.

It's old East so to speak but has undergone extensive development. I pass through there quite often and get off for a coffee or beer and just sit out and enjoy the place. As for English you will pick up the German and being a big student town it'll be grand. It's pretty, peaceful but lacks big clubs and the likes yet I'm sure people will point you in the right direction.

When you get a train card Berlin is 2.5 hours away and 49€ return if you book a week or so in advance. I hope this helps and you enjoy the place. Seize the day as it sounds like a great opertunity... and... good luck!

Thanks for your reply, that does answer my question about cost of living, and reassures some of my worries! Do you think that figure for apartment rental would be for a furnished apartment? (I ve been caught out by that before i.e when moving to Australia!) Sorry for posting in the wrong forum. All I need to do now is get the job finalised!!

Here's the link to the city homepage in English. I've never been there but I passed it often on my trips to Berlin. It looks like a lovely little city from my vantage point on the train. Don't worry about not speaking any German, may people move to Germany and don't speak the language and get by just fine.

http://www.jena.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=11...63&_lang=en

Thüringen is my favorite state in Germany. Very green, lots of cultural heritage, and in my experience the "coolest" Germans come from there. Jena is a cool city - not overly beautiful - but a good location.. Lots of students.. Lots of forests and hills around for walking, biking, etc.. Lots of castles and monuments and things.. I would go there in a heartbeat if I had a "real job" opportunity.. Cost of living will be lower than other big German cities. I don't know exactly to be honest, but I would expect to have to pay €600 warm a month for 75 m² or so.. Jena, surprisingly, has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the former east Germany, so who knows.. I've taught English to many people over the years from companies based in Jena.. - pharmaceuticals, optics, etc.., and overall I just have to say, I have found people from Thüringen to be predominantly pleasant and laid back compared to most other Germans.. But yeah, nothing's perfect - you could go there and get attacked by neo-nazis on the first day...

Just to add a bit of balance, like...

Erfurt is also in Thuringia and it's lovely

Top 3 city in Germany for me.. Big fan of Erfurt..

Thanks for the replies, just have to wait and see now if I get the job!

hi,

Jena, Erfurt and Weimar ar all quite cultural cities in Thüringen with nice small houses and streets, lots of tiny shops and a nice student life. The cost of living is quite cheap, as in the "east" of germany in general. If you would look for a "WG" (flat shared with a couple of people) you could probably get a room that would cost between 150 and 250 euro .
A lot of people speak english in germany and are very much interested in it. I think you would get along very well. But there are meet ups of native english speakers in bigger cities like Leipzig or Dresden aswell.

Good luck with it!

Hi again thanks for your previous replies,
well I got a preliminary job offer for a post doc position in Jena which is pretty exciting! I ve been told it's on the TV-L scale. From my looking around this forum and the internet this seems to suggest a net salary around 33k . (I have no kids and this is really my first proper job after my phd) Would that be a good estimate does anyone know? Is anyone else here doing a post doc as well? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Money is nt hugely important to me , feel like I'd be happy to have the opportunity but of course you need a certain amount to live on after all!!

Hi,

Its been a while since your initial post but hopefully, my view of Jena helps. I have been living here for about an year now working as a PhD student. Its not to difficult cope in Jena if you don't speak German but in my opinion, it does put you at huge social disadvantage. Although, almost all the younger generation speak English they usually prefer to stick to German. And depending on where you are coming from, you might feel that this part of Germany is not really the friendliest. Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty great people living here its just that its a completely different feel from the UK or the states. The difference is very noticeable if you visit cities like Hamburg and Köln. Making new friends outside the workplace is not easy, especially if you don't speak German. I personally don't like Jena mainly due to its small size, lack of diversity and entertainment/nightlife. I am slightly biased about that as I have lived in lively, big cities most of my life. I am actually moving to Ireland in a month or two. On last point to note, although you can train to pretty much anywhere in Germany from Jena, traveling from Jena is very inconvenient and expensive. I hope everything work great out for you!

What do you mean? There is a train every hour to Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Hamburg!!!
Be in touch when you have done Ireland as you will want to do yourself in and need support.

Sorry, I meant international travel. Airline tickers can be pretty cheap ofcourse but you end up paying more for the train to the airport. I take it from your comment you aren't too fond of Ireland.