Rohan Gupta recently graduated from secondary school in his hometown of Mumbai. Now the 16-year-old wants to become an electrician and plans to train on a dual vocational programme in Germany.
Rohan’s story is just one example of how to come to Germany to work as a skilled worker. Yours may be different, depending on your country of origin, where you want to work and other factors.
1. Learn German
Rohan Gupta is already learning German to be ready to speak it at work and college. He is taking a language course with the Goethe-Institut, which offers courses around the world – online and in the classroom. He needs to achieve at least level B1 to apply for a visa to start his training in Germany. Alternatively, he could take a language course in Germany to prepare for his training job.
Learn German with the Goethe-Institut
2. Find a company which offers training contracts
Rohan now needs to find a firm where he can train. He starts by looking on the Federal Employment Agency jobs website, and checks the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts’ trainee jobs portal and the website of the Industrie- und Handelskammer (German Chambers of Industry and Commerce). He also looks at websites of big German companies and submits speculative applications. Most training contracts begin in August or September, but it is common for places to be awarded a year in advance.
