# Which places in Europe are suitable for my girlfriend who is Chinese and has a degree from a British university to apply for jobs there?



## MrSnrub

My girlfriend wants to find a job in Europe so we can be together (I'm from Germany). She speaks Chinese, English, and Japanese fluently and has a Masters degree in econ from a British university and has done some ACCA exams. Which countries / cities are best suited for applying in her situation? 

I'm pretty open to most countries in Europe myself and wouldn't necessarily prefer to stay in Germany or anything.


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## Bevdeforges

Two factors to consider: does she have any job experience in her field? And do you have plans to marry? Either one or both of those would make the whole job search thing a whole bunch easier for her.

About the hardest job search you'll ever do is your first one fresh out of school - especially if you're looking to move to a foreign country. She needs to narrow down the type of job she is looking for - and she can scan the postings on a job hunting site like Monster, Stepstone or LinkedIn to see what sorts of qualifications they are looking for to see how well she fits the profile. Also, how much prior experience the most "interesting" jobs (to her) are looking for.

Chinese and Japanese are languages that can definitely help in the job hunt, but even in companies that claim that English is their "company language" she'll probably find that it is expected most places that she has the local language for day-to-day use both with colleagues and for general socializing purposes. She may want to stick to the various "financial centers" - like London, Frankfurt, Paris, or possibly take a look at Luxembourg (due to concentration of financial industry stuff there, if that's her inclination).

If you were married, she'd have a slight advantage simply due to the work status of the spouse of an EU national (well, other than in London). Otherwise, she will usually have to beat out any local candidate (which includes EU foreigners in EU countries already and other foreigners who already have work permits). Normally, it's the employer-to-be who has to justify hiring a foreigner and getting work authorization for a hire from outside the EU and that is normally not a terribly quick or easy process. But with a strong CV, it can be done. She just needs to be focused on what sort of job she is looking for (and best qualified for) and to highlight her "unique" attributes (of which the languages feature prominently).


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## MrSnrub

Bevdeforges said:


> Two factors to consider: does she have any job experience in her field? And do you have plans to marry? Either one or both of those would make the whole job search thing a whole bunch easier for her.
> 
> About the hardest job search you'll ever do is your first one fresh out of school - especially if you're looking to move to a foreign country. She needs to narrow down the type of job she is looking for - and she can scan the postings on a job hunting site like Monster, Stepstone or LinkedIn to see what sorts of qualifications they are looking for to see how well she fits the profile. Also, how much prior experience the most "interesting" jobs (to her) are looking for.
> 
> Chinese and Japanese are languages that can definitely help in the job hunt, but even in companies that claim that English is their "company language" she'll probably find that it is expected most places that she has the local language for day-to-day use both with colleagues and for general socializing purposes. She may want to stick to the various "financial centers" - like London, Frankfurt, Paris, or possibly take a look at Luxembourg (due to concentration of financial industry stuff there, if that's her inclination).
> 
> If you were married, she'd have a slight advantage simply due to the work status of the spouse of an EU national (well, other than in London). Otherwise, she will usually have to beat out any local candidate (which includes EU foreigners in EU countries already and other foreigners who already have work permits). Normally, it's the employer-to-be who has to justify hiring a foreigner and getting work authorization for a hire from outside the EU and that is normally not a terribly quick or easy process. But with a strong CV, it can be done. She just needs to be focused on what sort of job she is looking for (and best qualified for) and to highlight her "unique" attributes (of which the languages feature prominently).


We do plan to get married but not so soon that it would be relevant for the job search I'm afraid. Unfortunately she also doesn't have job experience yet, although she did an internship at an accounting department during her undergrad degree in the past. 

Thank you so much for your thorough reply and the great tips. I'll discuss these points with her and hope we can working something out and both find suitable employment.


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## MrSnrub

Bevdeforges said:


> Two factors to consider: does she have any job experience in her field? And do you have plans to marry? Either one or both of those would make the whole job search thing a whole bunch easier for her.
> 
> About the hardest job search you'll ever do is your first one fresh out of school - especially if you're looking to move to a foreign country. She needs to narrow down the type of job she is looking for - and she can scan the postings on a job hunting site like Monster, Stepstone or LinkedIn to see what sorts of qualifications they are looking for to see how well she fits the profile. Also, how much prior experience the most "interesting" jobs (to her) are looking for.
> 
> Chinese and Japanese are languages that can definitely help in the job hunt, but even in companies that claim that English is their "company language" she'll probably find that it is expected most places that she has the local language for day-to-day use both with colleagues and for general socializing purposes. She may want to stick to the various "financial centers" - like London, Frankfurt, Paris, or possibly take a look at Luxembourg (due to concentration of financial industry stuff there, if that's her inclination).
> 
> If you were married, she'd have a slight advantage simply due to the work status of the spouse of an EU national (well, other than in London). Otherwise, she will usually have to beat out any local candidate (which includes EU foreigners in EU countries already and other foreigners who already have work permits). Normally, it's the employer-to-be who has to justify hiring a foreigner and getting work authorization for a hire from outside the EU and that is normally not a terribly quick or easy process. But with a strong CV, it can be done. She just needs to be focused on what sort of job she is looking for (and best qualified for) and to highlight her "unique" attributes (of which the languages feature prominently).


I was thinking would it maybe also be possible that if she can't find a job for now she could enrol to study for another Masters where I'll be working (e.g. in Frankfurt) but then while studying here continue to search for a job and maybe discontinue her studies if she finds one (since she already has a Masters degree)?


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## Bevdeforges

It really depends on what sort of job she'll be looking for. In some "economics" related jobs the two East Asian languages could be the key to finding something - with, say, a big bank there in Frankfurt, or with an insurance company that does business in and with Japan and China. You never know until you start looking around. It might even be worth her while to start learning a bit of German while she's there.


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## *Sunshine*

Germany has too many business/econ grads and not enough jobs for all of them. Most international graduates of German universities who study in English are unable to find jobs in Germany. It is especially difficult to find entry level accounting jobs without excellent German and being able to read the _HGB_.

Since she doesn't have any experience, I think she should start looking in the UK with her local degree. Has she contacted the firm where she interned?


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## MrSnrub

*Sunshine* said:


> Germany has too many business/econ grads and not enough jobs for all of them. Most international graduates of German universities who study in English are unable to find jobs in Germany. It is especially difficult to find entry level accounting jobs without excellent German and being able to read the _HGB_.
> 
> Since she doesn't have any experience, I think she should start looking in the UK with her local degree. Has she contacted the firm where she interned?


That's what I suspected as well. I think the issue is that accounting in Germany is just too different from accounting in UK, which is also as it is taught in the ACCA. That was my impression with the few accounting classes I had to take for my degree in Germany as well. 

Unfortunately she's no longer in UK at the moment since she returned to Germany. I don't think she'll have any advantage now anymore since she doesn't have the job searching related visa anymore. Although I think places in UK, like London may also be very suitable later we had hoped to search in EU countries first since it might be easier for me to find a job there as well. So Ireland (Dublin) is one place we came up with since it is also English speaking and a UK degree might be valued similary there.


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## MrSnrub

Bevdeforges said:


> It really depends on what sort of job she'll be looking for. In some "economics" related jobs the two East Asian languages could be the key to finding something - with, say, a big bank there in Frankfurt, or with an insurance company that does business in and with Japan and China. You never know until you start looking around. It might even be worth her while to start learning a bit of German while she's there.


She's most interested in accounting related jobs. Then unfortunately I don't think Germany will be too suitable since our accounting system is too different. I saw some accounting trainee position that were also geared towards people who are doing the ACCA in Ireland (Dublin), so I think maybe that might be worth checking out. Apart from that I think you're probably right and international companies where the language skills might be an advantage would also be interesting.

She's already working on her German but I don't think it'll get close to B2 or C1 level in the near future, so for now we're probably just going to focus on English-speaking jobs.


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## Bevdeforges

MrSnrub said:


> Then unfortunately I don't think Germany will be too suitable since our accounting system is too different.


Don't use that for an excuse. I studied accounting in the US and took a job in Germany (after 15 years of US experience and claiming to speak "fluent" German - which was almost true <g>). As they say in accounting, "debits still go on the left and credits on the right." The style of presentation or the names of the accounts you are supposed to use may vary a bit, but accounting is basically accounting the world around. 

Ideally, she may want to find an accounting position at a large, international company - probably preferably the company headquarters - where her other language skills would be very useful. Dublin is a great place, but I'm not so sure how many international companies have their headquarters there. (I could be wrong - certainly no harm in looking to see what's available there.)


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