Once you’ve finished your studies in Germany, you may decide you’d like to stay in the country longer and start looking for somewhere to work. First, you will need to consider whether you’re eligible to look for work in Germany - especially if you’re an international student on a German student visa.
(Luckily for you, the job opportunities in Germany after graduation are good and the chances of international students getting employment are pretty high!)
In this guide, we’ll take you through all of your options as a newly-graduated international student and let you know the steps to work in Germany after graduation. This will include how you can get a working visa in Germany if you need one.
Yes. If you want to stay in Germany after you’ve graduated, you can.
You’re making a good decision to stay in Germany after your studies as we have the largest economy in Europe - so there’s no better place to start your career!
If you are from non-EU and non-EEA countries and currently hold a residence permit in Germany, you can apply to have it extended for a further 18 months, which should be enough time for you to find a job. During this time, you can also look for temporary jobs to earn money until you find something more permanent.
If you want to start preparing for employment, it’s time to start getting all of your documents (qualifications, residence permits, etc.) ready as you'll be asked to submit these during the interview process. You should also start working on your resume/CV that will showcase your skills, previous experience, and qualifications to prospective employers.
Here are 80 common job interview questions & answers
If you already know what company you want to work for, you can look for jobs directly on their website - most companies will have a ‘Careers’ or ‘Jobs’ section where new jobs will be posted.
You can also find jobs on online portals where lots of different companies will post positions they’re recruiting for. These portals are great because you can filter the results to only show positions that are relevant to the field you want to work in and your qualifications. Here are the most popular job portals in Germany:
If you’re studying with us at CBS, we also organise careers fairs on campus so our students can network directly with companies they may be interested in working for. We regularly invite experts from the business world to present their companies and tell their own success stories. First-hand. How often do you get the opportunity to meet a respected founder personality anyway? Career Events are there for you to broaden your horizons, get ideas for your own future and perhaps even find inspiration for a thesis.
In addition, we have our own job portal the CBS Career Center where you can directly apply for part-time and full-time positions in Germany and Europe. Our Career Service advises our students on which internships, companies, and departments at home or abroad best match their qualifications and career goals as well as when and how they should apply. We also assist our students in evaluating offers, optimizing application documents, and giving them plenty of tips to prepare for job interviews.
The time it takes to find a job in Germany will depend on your skills and qualifications, as well as how much demand there is for in your field at the time you’re applying.
Normally jobs like business, marketing, health care practitioners, engineers, and IT specialists are more in-demand, so if you’re applying to these roles you can expect to find a job quicker.
Even if you’re not applying for jobs in these fields, you shouldn’t need to worry too much. In Germany, we have an aging population so there are always plenty of companies looking for recent graduates to recruit.
Check out our undergraduate degrees
Check out our graduate degrees
If you want to make yourself more attractive to employers and get a job quicker as an international student, having a degree from a German university will help increase your chances of employment. If you’re looking to start a degree, you can take a look at the wide range of English-taught undergrad and graduate study programmes that we offer at CBS.
It also helps if you can speak some German. Even though there are many English-speaking jobs in Germany, having some German language skills will set you apart from other applicants and increase your chances of getting employed.
Here are some tips to learn German fast
At CBS we focus our study programmes around future employment for our students by integrating language classes into all courses, to help them improve their German skills by the time they graduate. We also integrate business projects where students experience working with big German companies.
We also have a great careers service on campus that gives our students advice and support when trying to find a job.
Take the first step towards your dream career! Download our brochure & learn more about our undergraduate & graduate degrees in Germany!
Take the first step towards your dream career! Download our brochure & learn more about our undergraduate & graduate degrees in Germany!
Take some time and try out our Degree Finder! It will take you just a few clicks to find the degree programme that matches your profile.
Whether Bachelor's, Master's, full or part-time, in German or English - there is something for everyone here at CBS in Germany.
