# Move to Berlin or London?



## knuckledown

Hi All, we need some help in deciding between the two options and would appreciate some inputs. We are an Indian couple with a child who will soon start school and we both work for UK/Europe based companies in India. My wife has got a job in Berlin with a decent pay (100+) and now her current employer has offered her a relocation to London. The salary in London is slightly lesser as compared to Berlin (after adjusting for currency). UK would likely be on ICT visa where as Germany would be on Blue Card. We do not know German but hope to learn if we move to Germany. We have lived in another foreign country and it was a good experience so we are sure to take up one of the offers. We would want to go from a long term perspective.

1. How tough is it for a non German speaker, non tech person to find a job in Berlin (I am a Risk Manager in a bank)? If I don't get a job, another option is for me to do masters in Germany. How realistic is that and would that help eventually finding a comparable job to what I have in India?
2. Child perspective - School, life in general. We would want a happy life for our child above anything else. Do not want him to be part of rat race but at the same time have good thought provoking education where he has friends and good social life.
3. Work Life Balance - we do not want life which is only about work and would like to have some time for us to follow hobbies and have downtime etc. .
4. How it would be from an Indian perspective? Any one who has lived in both Berlin and London and can share experience?
5. Language Issues - how big is that an issue in Berlin? 

Any other points are welcome which I may have missed out.

Thanks


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## *Sunshine*

knuckledown said:


> Hi All, we need some help in deciding between the two options and would appreciate some inputs. We are an Indian couple with a child who will soon start school and we both work for UK/Europe based companies in India. My wife has got a job in Berlin with a decent pay (100+) and now her current employer has offered her a relocation to London. The salary in London is slightly lesser as compared to Berlin (after adjusting for currency). UK would likely be on ICT visa where as Germany would be on Blue Card. We do not know German but hope to learn if we move to Germany. We have lived in another foreign country and it was a good experience so we are sure to take up one of the offers. We would want to go from a long term perspective.
> 
> 1. How tough is it for a non German speaker, non tech person to find a job in Berlin (I am a Risk Manager in a bank)? If I don't get a job, another option is for me to do masters in Germany. How realistic is that and would that help eventually finding a comparable job to what I have in India?


It is very very difficult for foreigners who are not in tech and can't even speak German to find good jobs in Berlin. The few well paid banking jobs in Berlin are in German and a masters degree will not improve your employment prospects. Most international banking jobs are in Frankfurt.

About 10 years ago Deutsche Bank opened a risk center in Berlin to cut costs and were offering their Risk Analysts about 35,000 € / year (gross!). Sadly there were also enough young grads desperate enough to jump at the chance to work there.

Moving to Berlin would be a very risky career move for you. On the other hand, the cost of living in Berlin is low and you could afford to live quite well on your wife's salary.

How old is your child?


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## knuckledown

*Sunshine* said:


> It is very very difficult for foreigners who are not in tech and can't even speak German to find good jobs in Berlin. The few well paid banking jobs in Berlin are in German and a masters degree will not improve your employment prospects. Most international banking jobs are in Frankfurt.
> 
> About 10 years ago Deutsche Bank opened a risk center in Berlin to cut costs and were offering their Risk Analysts about 35,000 € / year (gross!). Sadly there were also enough young grads desperate enough to jump at the chance to work there.
> 
> Moving to Berlin would be a very risky career move for you. On the other hand, the cost of living in Berlin is low and you could afford to live quite well on your wife's salary.
> 
> How old is your child?


Thanks for the response. Very helpful. So, It seems that getting a decent job is going to be an uphill task. 



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