Job Hunting

An efficient Job search depends on your personal profile, your CV, and the type of job you prefer. The Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) runs job centers providing a variety of job listings. The Unemployment assistance is provided by the employment agency,if you file for unemployment benefits. They will assign you an administrator who helps you to find a job matching your profile. You can also sign up for further training, etc. to increase your chances on the labour market.

These are the companies looking for a job on behalf of you and may charge fee for it. There are also quite a few private recruitment agencies specializing in certain regions, fields of employment, or management levels. They are probably very helpful to filter out jobs for which you need to be fluent in German. 

The rapid shifting of the job seekers and employers online, the newspaper ads are declined tremendously. Comprehensive collection of Classified ads in the newspaper are also a way of hunting for jobs in Germany. Most national dailies and local newspapers feature vacancies on the weekend. National papers often address executive positions and highly-qualified job-seekers, whereas local papers in Germany advertise less senior vacancies.

Offline, job recruitment fairs can be a great way to meet German employers face-to-face. Make a good impression by dressing smart and asking specific questions about the company to show you're really interested. Look out for specific fairs that might suit you - job fairs are regularly held for graduates, or there may be one specific for your industry, for foreigners or language speakers.If you prefer speaking to potential employers in person, career fairs are the way to go. If you are searching for jobs in a highly specialized field, such as biochemistry or software engineering, a trade fair can be a great chance to get a first impression of the job market in Germany, as well as selected companies. 

You can also get in touch with a company directly, or have a look at their website. Big global companies often advertise new jobs on their homepage. Or contact your chamber of commerce in Germany and similar institutions.