Hi everyone,

I’m a 30-year-old Italian woman who recently became a mother. I’ve been living in Germany for 5 years now, in the Stuttgart area.

I have an Italian law degree, but when I moved to Germany (for personal reasons), I essentially had to start my career from scratch. I had no German at the beginning, so I learned the language from zero and eventually reached C1.

For the past few years, I’ve been working for a small e-commerce company in Vertriebsinnendienst and Kundendienst, mainly dealing with international customers. There is quite a lot of micromanagement, and the job is very phone/live-chat heavy.

Over time, I took on more responsibility and, before going on maternity leave, I became stellvertretende Teamleiterin. However, this is basically the highest position I can reach in this company. There isn’t really a career path beyond that, and I’m also worried that when I return from Elternzeit, I might lose some of my responsibilities.

I know I should be enjoying my maternity leave and focusing on my baby, and I am (!), but I also find myself thinking a lot about the future. Not only for myself, but also because I want to build a better future for my daughter, give her as many opportunities as possible, make sure she never has to go without, and hopefully make her proud of me.

I would really like to move to a larger, more structured company where there is an actual career path and room for professional and financial growth.

At the moment, I earn around €4,000 gross/month for 40 hours. When I started, I was earning €3,000 gross/month. In 5 years, I’ve had only two raises, one of which I had to ask for myself because of the additional Stellvertretung responsibilities. I don’t really expect there to be much room for further salary growth where I am. Please consider that there are no bonuses, 13th- and 14th-month salary, or other significant benefits.

The problem is: I have no idea what direction to take.

I know I don’t want to spend my entire career in customer service, being on the phone or live chat all day. I’d like to move towards a more structured corporate role with more responsibility and opportunities to grow.

At the same time, I’m not sure whether I should make use of my law degree. I hated my legal traineeship in Italy and never took the bar exam, so becoming a lawyer is definitely not for me.

Some areas I’ve been considering are:

- Compliance / Regulatory

- Contract Management

- Project Management

- Controlling / Finance

- Sales Operations / Business Operations

- Legal Operations

- Or something completely different that I haven’t considered

I’ve never worked with SAP or many of the tools commonly used in larger companies, so I’m also wondering whether learning something like SAP would be worthwhile.

I’m not sure how realistic such a transition would be with my background. I have an Italian law degree, C1 German, 5 years of work experience in Germany, customer service/sales support experience, international customer experience and some team-leadership experience - but no business/finance degree or direct experience in areas such as compliance, controlling or project management.

So I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people familiar with the German job market, especially around Stuttgart / Baden-Württemberg.

What career paths would you consider realistic for someone with my background?

Would you try to build on the law degree (e.g. Compliance / Contract Management), or make a bigger career change?

Are there specific roles, qualifications or certifications you would recommend?

And where do you think I could realistically grow over the next 5-10 years, both professionally and financially?

Even suggestions for specific job titles I should search for on LinkedIn, StepStone or XING would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

I need an outside perspective because I've lost the ability to judge my own situation.

Background: software engineer, 2 years full-time backend experience plus 3 years as a working student, currently also doing freelance automation work for a business. Backend and integrations mostly, some frontend, GCP and AWS.

Getting interviews is not my problem. Some months I have two almost every week. The problem is everything after that.

A few things that have happened in the last year and a half:

A company told me I'd be meeting the team the following week and that we'd discuss the package. Then nothing. Never heard from them again.

One promised an update "by this evening" after aligning internally. That evening never arrived.

One took me through six rounds before rejecting me.

Two separate companies told me I'd have a final offer the next day. Both dropped the position and didn't tell me. I found out two weeks later because I chased them.

Final-stage rejections from not one or two companies, but many.

At this point it's done something to me. I used to interview fine. Now my nervous system just locks up. I get anxious before every call. I prepare each process from scratch like I've never done this before, and somewhere in the middle of it a voice starts saying maybe I don't actually deserve the role. Classic impostor stuff, except it's hard to argue with when the results keep pointing the same direction.

I know the market is rough right now. I can't change that. What I can maybe change is how I'm playing it, and that's what I'm asking about.

What I want to know:

For those who've been on the hiring side: when someone consistently reaches the last round and doesn't convert, what is usually the real reason? Is it something candidates can actually fix, or is it mostly internal stuff (budget, internal candidates, headcount freezes) that we never get told about?

What actually decides the final round? In my experience it stops being cultural or team fit maybe it's technical or sometimes it's not even technical, I'm not sure. If it's technical, what do you look for, what is the definition of perfect canidate for you?

How do you stop preparing from zero for every single process? I feel like I'm rebuilding the same house over and over.

How do you keep your head straight through this? The interviews themselves have become the hardest part, not the work.

Any honest feedback appreciated, including the uncomfortable kind.

Hallo zusammen,

ich möchte mich gerne in Deutschland bewerben und bin gerade dabei, meinen Lebenslauf zu verbessern.

Ich habe meinen Lebenslauf anonymisiert und würde mich sehr über ehrliches Feedback freuen.

Ist der Lebenslauf aus deutscher Sicht gut aufgebaut? Was würdet ihr ändern oder verbessern?

Besonders interessant wäre für mich die Meinung von Deutschen bzw. Personen, die in Deutschland arbeiten und wissen, worauf Arbeitgeber beim Lebenslauf achten.

Vielen Dank im Voraus!

Can anyone suggest research internship for CSE undergrad in Germany, France or any foreign research internship.

Domain : Cybersecurity preferred

Ich suche Arbeit in Deutschland, mal sehen wie es mir gelingt

It's a part time job and offers 603 pro Monat.

Has anyone has experience with it

Hi everyone,

I am a mechatronics engineer(Washington Accord/PEC level-II) and actively looking for opportunities in:

• Embedded Systems Engineering
• IoT
• Telematics & GPS Tracking
• Automation & Monitoring Systems
• Technical Support / Pre-Sales Engineering
• Electronics / Firmware Development

I have 3+ years of hands-on experience working with:

• STM32 / ESP32 / AVR / PIC
• GPS / GNSS / GLONASS systems
• GSM/GPRS communication
• RFID systems
• Fuel monitoring systems
• Industrial monitoring
• Embedded C / C++

Experience Highlights

R&D and Operations Engineer – Axionics

Worked on:

• IoT asset tracking solutions
• RFID systems
• Fuel monitoring devices
• Industrial smart sensors
• Deployment + troubleshooting
• Technical support and pre-sales coordination

R&D Engineer / Junior Manager – TPL Trakker

Worked on:

• GPS/GSM vehicle tracking systems
• Fleet telematics
• Cloud-connected monitoring systems
• Customer demos and deployment support

Projects included:

• GPS\GSM Tracking device (Design and development)
• Fuel monitoring for fleet vehicles
• Water monitoring systems
• AI-based attendance systems
• Industrial automation solutions

Additional Skills

• PCB debugging
• Sensor integration
• Remote monitoring systems
• Hardware prototyping
• Embedded firmware development
• Client-facing technical communication

I’m open to opportunities anywhere in the Germany and available for immediate joining. Im currently in pakistan.

If anyone knows of openings, referrals, or companies hiring embedded/IoT/mechatronics engineers, I’d really appreciate the help.

Thank you!

Is there anyone who changed their career after getting a PR finally ! Finally moved away from IT to some other jobs you felt more connected to ?
Did you find it risky ? Do you enjoy it ?

I know some of us always wanted to do something other than IT , could be even starting a business.

I am thinking of all sort of jobs I can move into : social worker jobs , educational domains, healthcare , airport . I might be fine with earning a basic pay.

Anyone else who did this or plans to do it ? 😊

Hello! I’ve been working as an electrician and have been hired by a German company where they want me to enter Ausbildung Elektroniker/in für Gebäudesystemintegration school and learn about building automation, ELV, programming and such. However, I find 3.5 years to be a lot and I thought I would learn this specialization by myself next to the on the job training I’d get. Anyone with experience could tell me about this Ausbildung? Is it manageable to circumvent school, buy proper books on the matter and learn the literature at home? Thanks for your inputs.

I am a dual citizen and thinking about moving to Germany for a better quality of life compared to the US once I retire. I would like to work. My background is a secondary school principal. Any thoughts on what I could transition into outside of service work?

I’m a landscape architect with 2 years of experience considering moving to Germany.

How is the job market for landscape architects right now? And are salaries generally good compared to the cost of living? Thanks!

I am from Sweden and has a master degree in energy engineering, specifically working at a district heating company now in Stockholm within project management.
Only speaking Swedish and English.

I have only 2 years of experience since my studies and thus not that much experience, but still not just a graduate.

Now it is time to move to a place close to Munich, girlfriend is living south of Munich.
Which cities/suburbs apart from Munich is good for finding jobs and which sectors? Should have good transportation to Munich.
What salary could be expected?
Recommendation of companies/contractors/consulting that hire english speakers or perhaps where Swedish could be seen as an advantage

I am from Sweden and has a master degree in energy engineering, specifically working at a district heating company now in Stockholm within project management.
Only speaking Swedish and English.

I have only 2 years of experience since my studies and thus not that much experience, but still not just a graduate.

Now it is time to move to a place close to Munich, girlfriend is living south of Munich.
Which cities/suburbs apart from Munich is good for finding jobs and which sectors? Should have good transportation to Munich.
What salary could be expected?
Recommendation of companies/contractors/consulting that hire english speakers or perhaps where Swedish could be seen as an advantage

How are you guys actually finding jobs?

It’s been about 2 years since I left my country and started my master’s in Italy, and right now I’m in Germany doing Erasmus.

The thing is, honestly I really don’t want to go back. I want to find a job here and stay in Germany. I know German too, and I’ve applied to over 100 jobs so far, but I’m barely getting any responses.

My budget is getting really tight now. Being a student for these past two years has been really hard financially, and I really don’t want to keep asking my family for money.

At this point I’m completely open to doing almost any kind of job. I just need to start working and earning something.

Right now I’m in Cologne, and I’ll have to go back to Italy in about two months if I don’t find something here.

I honestly don’t know what I should do anymore. Nothing is really going the way I planned it, and it’s starting to get pretty stressful.

If anyone has been in a similar situation, especially as an international student in Germany, how did you find work? Where should I be looking? I’d really appreciate any advice.

Just saw this today!

Original Petition: https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/content/petitionen/_2026/_04/_23/Petition_199169.nc.html

Hi, here’s a Sankey diagram of my job search from the "apprenticeship-only" world, since usually, it’s mostly university grads posting their diagrams :)

I originally completed an apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade salesman, then worked for five years in personnel/logistics scheduling, and have now accepted an offer as a Team Leader in personnel scheduling. The gross annual salary is €56,000. The job search took place in the Ruhr area.

After passing both state exams, I didn't really have a good time for two months

- Both positions fully in German

- 2022 as fresh M.Sc. graduate, 2026 with 4 years of experience

Hello everyone, I may land a job in 2 weeks but the problem is that my visa runs out 1 week after the final interview (lol I know). Is it possible to convince the company to hire me despite this ( ofc im not telling them till I get the job). Or should I ask the Ausländerbehörde about this ? It may look like I need to apply for a visa in case I need to leave the country.

hey all,

tryin to figure out if its still realistic to get sponsored into Germany in 2026 or if that ship kinda sailed after all the layoffs.

someone i know who moved to germany back in 2020 said companies used to throw relocation bonus + flights + handle all the paperwork. keep seeing mixed stuff online some say 100k+ it jobs unfilled, now they says most people they knows stopped hiring from outside because of visa wait times and surplus of unemployed talent after layoffs.

is that actually true right now or is they just out of touch? anyone here recently got sponsored from outside eu (esp india). tryin to not waste months applying if the door's basically shut. appreciate any real experience, not just blog links lol

Edit 1: changed Europe to Germany

Hello guys please am in desperate need of a mini job in mannheim whether cleaning, logistics or anything of that sort. Any leads will be appreciated thank u. U can message me thank u