Germany is not only for German speakers

I am writing here my story of moving to Germany, first to dispel the myth that Germany is only for those who speak German. I will go over the main points of my experience.

1) The application process
I moved to Germany for a business master’s degree. In 2019 I finished my bachelors in Russia and decided to leave as I wanted to get an internationally recognized master degree and live abroad. By the way, I was born and grew up in Russia. I was 24 years old at the time when I moved. Before that I managed to live in the Netherlands for a year on an exchange program. I applied to 8 German universities for an English language master’s degree in International Business and received 5 offers of place. During my application I did not need German at all. I took the language exam in English, and the whole process of admission, communication with universities, etc. was in English. Also, I had my documents translated into English.

2) Visa
For me personally, a standard package was required for a student visa, where the main document was a certificate of finances. The only problem, the consulate or embassy of Germany often asks to show the money in a blocked account. At that time, it was required to show not less than 865 euros per month. I opened such an account in a week: I gathered my papers with translations into English, applied at the consulate, and got a visa in 4 weeks. Communication at the consulate was in the domestic language.

3) What to do if there is no money to move?
Apply for a scholarship! If you want to study in Germany, there are 100500 different funds, where you can find financial support for almost any category of applicants. The main thing is to write a well-written motivation letter, where you have to convince them why they should give you money. I applied for a scholarship on the spot, after my first semester. I received the STIBET I DAAD scholarship and was given 5,000 euros for 3 semesters in total. The scholarship was granted to me for the above average academic performance. The docs for scholarships I always provided in English.

4) Master’s degree in English
Studying in Germany is tough. You certainly can’t relax while you’re studying here. Despite the fact that I am an experienced person in terms of studying for A’s, it was more difficult for me here than anywhere else. I studied at a university of applied sciences, called Hochschule. They are more practice-oriented, whereas standard universities (called “Universität”) are more academic. In my case there was a lot of group work, business projects, presentations, and statistics. The first year there was no time to think about anything but studies. I find, the most important thing about such applied universities is the professors from the industry. My finance lecturer worked for the Big Four at KPMG, my marketing lecturer worked for Coca-Cola, my export and business economics lecturer worked as an economic advisor in Germany and other countries, and my HR lecturer worked for 10 years for Lufthansa. All of these people know their business well and demand a lot from students. If your grades are in the range 1.5-2 in Germany (where 1.0 is the highest grade), you’re doing great. During my studies I never once had to speak German. Except in German courses, which I chose voluntarily, just to practice a little. However, keep in mind that I studied an English language Master programme so someone else’s experience might be different.

5) English-speaking jobs in Germany
From my experience there are more than enough jobs in English in Germany. It is a well-known fact that many of the world-famous companies in many sectors of the economy are here. Each region of Germany has its own core area: e.g. Dusseldorf – household goods; Frankfurt – banking, consulting, insurance. It is preferable to go and study in the place where you plan to work and live, so that you can initially build a network there and put down roots in the right direction. After finishing my first 2 semesters of my master’s program, I decided to start gaining local work experience, so it would be easier to get a job after graduation. I found a job in 2 months of intensive searching, which is pretty fast for Germany. There is a lot of competition among skilled professionals.

But, again, it all depends on how you package your profile, how you compose your resume and sell yourself at the interview. It’s important to note that in Germany there is free advice at least for students on your resume, how to design it, and where to look for work. You have to go to the state Arbeitsagentur for that. I went to them, they gave me general comments on the standards of the resume and my motivation letter, but in the end, I still did many things in my own way, to stand out from the stream of thousands of similar applicants. I designed my resume so that I was invited to 16 interviews at companies like Allianz, SAP, J.P. Morgan, Hilton, Jaguar, Bosch, UniCredit and others.

I chose to intern at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the heart of the stock market in Europe, where I had the opportunity to have all the banks I wanted to work for as clients lol. I did all my interviews and job applications in English. The corporate language at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is English, I don’t speak German at work, nor do many other foreign employees.

Bottom line, in 4,5 years of living in Germany, even though I learned and can speak German, it wasn’t the most important factor for my success. In my opinion, living in English in Germany is possible, at least in the big cities!