Aachen, Gemany

dazzday

Hey all,

Been offered a good job in Aachen in September...pretty much a 3year minimum commitment. Through a recruitment firm so they are sorting out nearly everything (accommodation, bank a/c, medical, german lessons etc).
However I have no idea what the place is like!

Anybody living there or have any experiences of the place? Good place for a mid-twenties Irish lad?!

n900guy

dazzday wrote: »

Hey all,

Been offered a good job in Aachen in September...pretty much a 3year minimum commitment. Through a recruitment firm so they are sorting out nearly everything (accommodation, bank a/c, medical, german lessons etc).
However I have no idea what the place is like!

Anybody living there or have any experiences of the place? Good place for a mid-twenties Irish lad?!

Its a nice enough city with interesting history but socially i think its quiet, similar to its nearby dutch neighbour maastricht, also nice historic but quiet. Its a great location for a lot of things thou if you like travelling, as its a quick trip to amsterdam, brussells, cologne, etc. Nurburging on a friday evening after work......

helimachoptor

OP Microscoft or Ericsson??

As said above a nice if small city but socially you may get a bit bored..

dazzday

^^ Neither R&D in a semiconductor firm.

Hearing its a student city, so it may not be as boring as I thought. Loving its location though, a hop across to Holland and Belgium. Nuremburg sounds appealing on a Friday afternoon!

Anybody have any experience with tax system etc over here?

From what i'm reading it seems they cripple you with income tax and compulsory social payments so your taking home only 50% of your wage. As i'm sure my recruitment agency will take a huge chunk of my wages already I dont want to be in the situation of earning half of what i'd get over here for a similar wage

judas101

Ushio?

helimachoptor

Op my friend was working for Ericsson there. You will get taxed but you will actually see the fruits of your tax money

dazzday

judas101 wrote: »

Ushio?

:cool: (you know it well?)

My initial calculations on tax etc for say €30,000, take home pay would be 18000in germany vs 25000 in Ireland.
Fair enough the lower cost of living (although im skeptical at how much of a difference after visiting) but it still seems quite disheartening!

jester77

dazzday wrote: »

^^ Neither R&D in a semiconductor firm.

Hearing its a student city, so it may not be as boring as I thought. Loving its location though, a hop across to Holland and Belgium. Nuremburg sounds appealing on a Friday afternoon!

Anybody have any experience with tax system etc over here?

From what i'm reading it seems they cripple you with income tax and compulsory social payments so your taking home only 50% of your wage. As i'm sure my recruitment agency will take a huge chunk of my wages already I dont want to be in the situation of earning half of what i'd get over here for a similar wage

Roughly 40-50% will disappear, but a large chunk of that goes towards health. Doctors visits are free (or 10€ once a quarter if public) so you do see benefits from it.

Have a look here, that calculator is very accurate and will show exactly what you pay and take home.

judas101

dazzday wrote: »

:cool: you know it well?

I work for a related company in Holland.

Aachen is a pretty nice city and it's close by loads of interesting places.
I can't imagine the wages for R&D there would be so bad.

Your money would stretch a bit further over there anyway.
Also, experience in the semiconductor industry would open up lots of job opportunities in interesting places.

keithclancy

n900guy wrote: »

Its a nice enough city with interesting history but socially i think its quiet, similar to its nearby dutch neighbour maastricht, also nice historic but quiet. Its a great location for a lot of things thou if you like travelling, as its a quick trip to amsterdam, brussells, cologne, etc. Nurburging on a friday evening after work......

Quick trip me arse, its 4 hours away from Amsterdam

Whack on an extra 30 minutes and you can get to London :cool:

ciaobellaciao1

Visited the city on many an occasion. Quite cheap to live there (eating out and drinking are cheaper than in Ireland). Beautiful old town, which is lovely at Christmas time with the market. The town is surrounded by forests which is great for cycling. Good luck. The nightlife scene may be a bit boring (even though it's a student city), but it's an hour away from Brussels on the Thalys and about an hour or so from Cologne as well.

derrydemesne

English is widely spoken. I found it to be a typical city with a varied cultural population. Clean, wet, has a Macdonalds...no doubt you've googled it.

derrydemesne

If you have a job offer there, as opposed to no job here, you will be that much more employable and experienced at the end of the contract. No doubt there's a contract review period as well?