# Could I find a job in Germany/EU?



## mrmillersd (Jul 17, 2013)

I am an American currently in a top 20 US college studying International Relations/Political economy. I speak fluent english, fluent mandarin, some french, and am learning German. I have studied abroad in Prague, and have the opportunity to do an internship in Geneva next summer.

Are there opportunities for me in the EU in places such as the EU, NGOs, etc? Does anyone have suggestions for my position?


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## ines2013 (Jun 10, 2013)

mrmillersd said:


> I am an American currently in a top 20 US college studying International Relations/Political economy. I speak fluent english, fluent mandarin, some french, and am learning German. I have studied abroad in Prague, and have the opportunity to do an internship in Geneva next summer.
> 
> Are there opportunities for me in the EU in places such as the EU, NGOs, etc? Does anyone have suggestions for my position?


Hi mrmillersd,
I'm curious - why do you want to work in the EU? I suppose you'll have many options after graduation in the US as well. Coming right out of college I suppose finding a job in the EU would not be that easy - you would compete with lots of students in the social sciences and liberal arts who are also trying to find jobs (just search 'political science' in Monster and see what comes out in every EU country - I also don't know about all the visa issues connected with a job search. 

Have you thought of moving on towards a Masters Degree? This might make it easier to find a good job in the NGO field. Consider not only the US but also other countries as study options. (Esp. if you have to consider student loans etc.)

What does your heart say? Do you want to stay in the political/non profit area? I'm sure you could find jobs in other areas easily (sales comes to mind considering that you know mandarin) but that may not be your way to go.
Have you done some research on internationally operating NGOs - UN and it's 'offsprings', US thinktanks that also operate abroad etc. Best to ask people from career service or your academic tutors to sort out you opportunities.
If you start on the internship in Geneve next summer, make sure you stay in contact with them also after the internship is over - they may be able to direct you towards some interesting job openings.:fingerscrossed:

Wish you all the best,
Ines


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## mrmillersd (Jul 17, 2013)

Thanks a ton! To be honest I'd take any non manual labor job I can get sales marketing or whatever...what about English teaching opportunities ?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The news magazine The Economist carries quite a few ads for various NGOs and other international organizations each week. These are generally for experienced personnel at upper levels, but if you start reading the ads now, you'll get an idea of what sorts of requirements there are for these kinds of jobs.

Your language skills will definitely help. OTOH, you very often need to be a citizen of one of the member countries of the NGOs in order to be considered for any job posting. 

Your biggest hurdle at the moment is going to be the visa. Due to the current unemployment amongst young people (especially those just out of college), it's very difficult for an employer to justify hiring a foreigner for most jobs and you generally need an employer to sponsor your visa application if you're planning on working. There are some international organizations where you don't need a visa in order to work - however this is often limited to upper level jobs.

Use your internship to study the job situation, and check out the job postings for the sorts of jobs you'd like to have in 10 or 15 years' time. Now is the time to start gathering the sort of experience that will allow you to apply for that sort of job later on.
Cheers,
Bev


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

mrmillersd said:


> I am an American currently in a top 20 US college studying International Relations/Political economy. I speak fluent english, fluent mandarin, some french, and am learning German. I have studied abroad in Prague, and have the opportunity to do an internship in Geneva next summer.
> 
> Are there opportunities for me in the EU in places such as the EU, NGOs, etc? Does anyone have suggestions for my position?


I assume your internship will be with the UN, related organisations or the red cross?

Use your time in Geneva to network and try to get a job there. I used to live in Geneva and although it's expensive, it provides a very high quality of life - culture, location for travel, etc. and you will soon learn all the tricks for saving money 

It's my ideal city; unfortunately I worked there before the bilateral contracts between Switzerland and the EU were even decided upon and had to leave after 18 months. 

Also, Geneva has a huge expat community due to all the international organisations there and as people are usually only staying a few years, everybody is into doing things and making friends now, not later


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## mrmillersd (Jul 17, 2013)

Thanks for the input guys and gals, i truly appreciate it 


Aside from jobs with NGOS or international entities, could I find a job teaching English with minimal experience teaching in a professional setting? What about teaching Mandarin/tutoring jobs?


I've always loved the German language since I was young but never got an opportunity to learn it. I don't know if I want to move to Germany but I definitely want to live their sometime. Do you think going to a German University for a Masters degree would be more useful in Europe in general, or an American/English one? I would consider US schools like Princeton, Columbia, Penn and English schools such as LSE. Also, I have exceptional oratory skills in English but am of East Oriental descent-could this hinder any English teaching prospects?

Danke!


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

mrmillersd said:


> Thanks for the input guys and gals, i truly appreciate it
> 
> 
> Aside from jobs with NGOS or international entities, could I find a job teaching English with minimal experience teaching in a professional setting? What about teaching Mandarin/tutoring jobs?
> ...



I think Mandarin might be the more realistic option, not because of your ancestry but because of your nationality.

A work permit application is decided on an individual basis by the department of employment. They basically have to check whether the job you want to do couldn't be done by somebody who has an EU nationality or is already settled in Germany.

When my mother had her own business, she tried to get a work permit for a great Polish guy (pre EU membership of Poland, I know long time ago, but the principle and process remains the same) - the department of employment sent her 157 (!) people from their database, who were all qualified to do the job. After four months of people coming to work drunk or whenever they want or not showing up anymore after a few days, she requested the work permit for the Polish guy again and got as an answer that they would be happy to supply a few hundred more CV's for her perusal.

Considering that we have lots and lots of native English speakers within the EU, I don't think teaching English is high profile enough to warrant a work permit for a non-EU national.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

This might put things into perspective:

Finde deinen Job: Durchsuche jetzt Jobs und Stellenangebote | Monster.de

They still want fluent German at the very least, if not mother tongue level.


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## mrmillersd (Jul 17, 2013)

Hmmm, it does. Are there opportunities to teach or tutor Mandarin in Germany?


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