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Transfer to Germany

  • 08-04-2010 10:22pm
    #1
    theroomisonfire
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 474 ✭✭


    Hi

    I have been working in the Tax Dept of one of the Big 4 since September. However, I would like to move to Germany for personal reasons. The problem is I don't have any german and not sure how such a transfer could happen

    Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could do or any options that are available to me. I would greatly appreciate your help!

    Do you think I could get transferred to the german tax dept of the company I am working for at the moment? Even though I have no german?

    Would my company perhaps support me to learn Geman so that I could transfer?

    I really have no idea about this and I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions of people that I can talk to.

    Or even has anyone worked for a big 4 in Germany - and how has the experience been??

    Many thanks in advance


Comments

  • #2
    HeinekenTicket
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 146 ✭✭HeinekenTicket


    I worked for big 4 in Germany for two years, although not in tax dept. However, the tax setup is a whole different ball game in Germany. They are also big on people having right qualifications for the job so I'd say your chances of getting into a big 4 tax dept are slim unless they have specific international tax skill requirements.

    I also went there for personal reasons so did not have any German when I started. It was stressful at the beginning when something that would take ten minutes in English took all day in German. On the other hand, my German came up to speed pretty quickly - when you are responsible for something, you make sure you understand it!

    In short, it was hard for the first year in particular. German society and outlook on life is very different as well so even personal aspects of life could be hard to get used to. Two years was enough for me - I travelled around and lived the life and have no regrets about the time spent there and decision to leave.

    In hindsight, I have definitely benefited in terms of skills, confidence gained and life experience. Would I be enthusiastic about doing it again - no! My advice - make sure your personal reason for going is worth it.


  • #3
    theroomisonfire
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 474 ✭✭theroomisonfire


    Many thanks for your reply HeinekenTicket.

    Can I just ask you a few further questions if you don't mid,

    1) You had no german when you started working there, how did your compny help you to learn German?

    2) Was much of the work done through English

    3) Was it difficult/easy to get the job there.

    4) Were you part-qulified/ fully qualified in Ireland before you made the move??

    I really appreciate your help as I'm not sure of anywhere that I can find information on this issue. Do you know of anywhere that I can look to find out further info.

    Many thanks again


  • #4
    HeinekenTicket
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 146 ✭✭HeinekenTicket


    Many thanks for your reply HeinekenTicket.

    Can I just ask you a few further questions if you don't mid,

    1) You had no german when you started working there, how did your compny help you to learn German?

    Yes, they organised one on one tutoring in business German. This was okay but not great. I also enrolled in regular evening classes which helped (two hours every evening five days a week for two months). If I was doing it again, I'd organise my own classes and just ask the company to pay. I'd also ask the company to commit to pay for something six months further on to get to the next level. I thought my German would be helped if I had the opp to go to classes again after a period of time.

    2) Was much of the work done through English
    3) Was it difficult/easy to get the job there.

    No poblem getting the job - I emailed the managing partner of the firm and asked for a job because I was moving there. They happended to need a native english speaker for drafting reports to international clients at that time. A lot of day to day was in German and then drafting in english.

    4) Were you part-qulified/ fully qualified in Ireland before you made the move??

    I had three year post-qualification experience before I went to Germany.

    I really appreciate your help as I'm not sure of anywhere that I can find information on this issue. Do you know of anywhere that I can look to find out further info.

    No problem - I can appreciate it's not a trivial decision. I suggest you ask within the firm what arrangements they have for international transfers. I doubt you would be the first to transfer internationally. for example, big 4 need to bring people from the US with US GAAP experience from time to time. They must have a process of helping people settle, finding a place to live, language etc and this would apply to you too.

    Many thanks again


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