Summer work in Germany

madnesspersues

Hey. I want to go to Germany this summer for at least 2 months. I was pondering whether to take a long, extravagant but expensive holiday or whether to go there and work.

My favoured option is to work as then I won't be in too much debt on my return to Ireland, however I am finding it very difficult to arrange this. Where can I find jobs for students? Hopefully someone who has been in a similar situation can help me out on this. I don't know much about working abroad so tips on where to find jobs, accommodation and other recommendations would be nice. I want to go to Germany to improve my German. I cannot stay another 'summer' in Ireland!!!

Also I have cousins who live near Salzburg, Austria so this is an option too!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Aurora Borealis

It's a million and one years ago but I arranged summer work in Germany through a company called Manpower Recruitment. Was crappy enough work in a factory but it served its purpose for me anyway at the time. Don't have contact details but google is your friend.

uiscebeatha

When I first came to Germany it was for summer work while I was a student.

I got a job as an au-pair. Money wasn't great but was enough to keep me going. Free bed and board.

It's easy enough to get au pair work here.

You must like kids though.

kraggy

Uiscebeatha, is there any chance at all of finding a job in Berlin with no German?

uiscebeatha

That really depends on the type of work.

If you're a qualified English teacher, you shouldn't have any problem.

If you're an experienced English teacher without a qualification, you'd manage.

If you're a nanny or au pair you won't have a problem either.

If you want to work in an Irish Pub, it's possible to find work but a bi-lingual person, or even someone with basic German, would have a much greater possibility of getting a job.

There is a fair few IT jobs for English speakers but I don't know if there are that many in Berlin, West Germany would be a better option, especially around the Frankfurt/Mainz/Wiesbaden area and also Munich.

I live in the West (Cologne) and I know some people who don't speak German but not very many. Berlin is more multi-cultural though so there would probably be more there. I have only ever spent one week in Berlin so I'm not an expert on that region.

You'll find jobs for English speakers on this website :
http://toytowngermany.com/jobs/

chillywilly

try this crowd. They do tours and pub crawls etc. The tours are free so you are paid solely on tips but i think the tips can be good. I didnt work for them myself but i did go on their tour and they have plenty of English/American people working for them and you dont have to speak german!

http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/content/view/20/35/lang,en/

madnesspersues

Thanks so much for the replies, I really appreciate it! I've been learning German fro 6 years and I'm in my first year of college studying, in part, German. So I have an intermediate level, so not that bad!

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks again!

(any more tips are greatly welcomed )

uiscebeatha

Regarding accomodation there are two websites I recommend:
http://www.wg-gesucht.de/
http://www.studenten-wg.de/

Renting in Germany is different from Ireland in that it's next to impossible to get a furnished room, so if you're only going for a few months and you don't want to spend money on a furniture you should look at flatshares (Wohngemeinschaft/WG) with Zwischenmiete. This is like sub-letting. Someone is spending the summer with their family, semester abroad etc., they want to keep their apartment and don't want to have to move all their furniture out, but also don't want to pay full rent while they're gone, so they sublet the room with all the furniture in it while they are gone, so it's perfect for someone who will only be here for a short while and doesn't want to buy all their own stuff.

madnesspersues

Cool, thanks soo much! I'll report back on how I get on. :cool::cool::cool:

i71jskz5xu42pb

I went to Lake Constance about 10 years ago, no accommodation or no job but was able to sort both out within a few days. Just working in a beer garden on the harbour. I think anywhere that has a big tourist season would be good to try. Leaving Cert German + a bit.

A lot of the places I asked in had already lined people up so you can prearrange.

It's a uni town so you might be able to get a room in the uni dorms (not what I did though)