A year ago, Liliya Pishvanova from Donetsk graduated from the Technical University of Berlin with a degree in International Pedagogy and got a job at the Berlin Vocational Education Center, which unites the Berlin Language School (BSS), the European Education Academy (EBA), and the Vocational Education and Integration Center 'Training and Integration' (Bint e.V.). Now Liliya is a project manager for youth cultural exchange. Her responsibilities include developing exchange programs for students and schoolchildren, language learning, and helping foreigners find internships and universities... The contract is permanent, the salary is decent. 'Finding such a place in Ukraine is unrealistic; I spent almost a year searching in vain. Similar work there is virtually unpaid, at best done by enthusiasts. Specialists with my education find it easier to build a career here than at home.'
Until recently, the chances of finding a job in Germany after graduating from a university were insignificant. The legislation in force meant that the residence permit expired along with graduation: there was virtually no time to look for a job, and if a vacancy was found, there was not enough time to process all the documents. But the situation is changing for the better. For example, since 2006, all foreign graduates of German universities are issued a residence permit in Germany for one year after graduation to find a job.
To each according to their work
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Eastern European university graduates flocked to England and America, while the unemployed went to Germany – for harvesting and cleaning floors in bourgeois families. An obvious paradox: one of the richest countries in the world, living off new technologies, a global leader in exports, is not interested in the influx of 'brains'. At the same time, local 'brains' are flowing abroad with enviable energy. This trend is especially noticeable in the engineering and technical professions. For example, about 20,000 mechanical engineering specialists leave per year, and there is also a large outflow in the IT sector. Only a few come to Germany; for instance, in 2005, only 900 highly qualified specialists received contract work.
Compared to other countries, the opportunities for contract workers in Germany are limited. Under current legislation, only those who earn at least €85,500 per year can obtain a permanent residence permit. But such a salary is the prerogative of top managers, and last year only 500 foreigners used this right. Everyone else must work under a contract for at least five years. Moreover, the residence permit is strictly limited: if you leave your job, you must leave the country. Such conditions do not attract foreign specialists, especially since the USA and Great Britain, with the help of Green Card and Point System, offer much better conditions for contract workers and their families.
However, attempts to follow the American path and introduce a Green Card in Germany were made. In 2000, the government of Gerhard Schröder succeeded. True, the German Green Card was nothing compared to the American one. It allowed entry for only 20,000 foreign specialists in the field of information technology – not per year, but in total.
Yet many IT specialists took advantage of this opportunity. Among them is Alexander Rogozhkin, a physicist-technologist by training, who worked in Moscow in research and programming. In 2001, with the help of friends, he found a vacancy for a programmer at a small biotech company in Heidelberg. Arriving for an interview, although he did not know German, he managed to convince his future boss in English. He got a Green Card for five years and learned German. 'The Green Card gave me the freedom to choose my place of work,' says Alexander. 'In five years, I changed three companies – with a regular work visa, which contract workers are issued now, it would have been difficult. According to the law, anyone who has lived in Germany for five years receives an unlimited residence permit, which I now have.' In seven years, Alexander made a career in his field: he now heads the bioinformatics department at a large Berlin research company that deals with genetic engineering. 'I think in our field, it is much easier to make a career in Germany than at home,' says Alexander, 'even despite the difficulties with work visas. Science and new technologies are developing rapidly here, there are many vacancies on the market. Of course, it is easier for company managers to hire a German, but it is not always possible to find the right specialist among their own. So many take foreigners and fight for their employment with the German bureaucratic machine.'
Let's sort it out
Politicians are not keeping up with the demands of the market, which dictates its own laws – society is internationalizing, foreign specialists are needed, especially in large cities like Berlin. In addition to the usual hiring practices, there is another sure way to attract qualified foreigners – facilitating the opening of foreign businesses. The economic development agency 'Berlin Partner' has gone down this path, developing several programs. For example, investors are given the opportunity to test the potential of opening a business in Berlin. The entrepreneur receives a fully equipped office, apartment, legal, tax, and other consultations on business start-up issues. At the same time, investors are offered a full situation analysis and, together with an investment bank, the search for suitable financial solutions for starting a business, as well as information about potential financial partners. And a special service, Business Immigration Service, allows foreign entrepreneurs and their leading employees to expect accelerated processing of visas and residence permits in Germany. Over the past three years, about 300 foreign enterprises have used such services.
“Foreign specialists, especially from Eastern Europe and Russia, are of great importance for Berlin,” says René Gurka, CEO of Berlin Partner. “The city positions itself as a springboard to Eastern Europe. The existing and constantly opening representative offices of many international companies are interested in entering the markets of Russia and Eastern Europe. It is more convenient to do this from Berlin both geographically and culturally.”
However, until recently, when applying for a job, foreign candidates and their employers had to prove that there were no similarly qualified employees with a German passport for the position. Completing all bureaucratic formalities took months, and many foreigners were forced to leave the country before the procedure was completed. Only in October of last year was the restriction lifted, and the chances of German and foreign university graduates in finding a job became equal.
In other countries, staying after studies is more difficult. For example, US laws require students to provide confirmation that they will return to their home country after graduation. Otherwise, obtaining a student visa is impossible. Under French law, a graduate needs a work permit from a specific employer, who in turn must make a request to the local Department of Labor and Employment. The selection criteria are the applicant’s professional skills and the demand for the proposed specialty in the labor market. However, the job, as until recently in Germany, must first be offered to French citizens. So now Germany has gained another advantage for those wishing to start a career from scratch, that is, from a German university – a legislative one.
Money is Not a Problem
There are other, no less significant advantages. The most important is the affordability of education, or more precisely, its low cost. Even in those states where tuition fees have recently been introduced, the price rarely exceeds €500 per semester. For comparison: at universities in New York, the cost ranges from $16,000 to $28,000 per year. A dormitory room there costs $1,300 per month, in Berlin – €200. A recent study by the German Student Services Organization showed that 85% of foreign students finance themselves and 65% came to Germany precisely because of the lack of tuition fees.
“Affordability of education is the main reason why foreigners from the middle and even lower-middle class can afford to study in Germany,” says Oxana Kalchenko, president of the International Student Club of Berlin’s largest university, FU Berlin. “Moreover, it is not difficult to get into a German university: there are no entrance exams, and for students who do not know German, there are many offerings in English. And thanks to recent legislative relaxations, foreign graduates have every chance of finding a job in Berlin after graduation, as there are many international organizations of various profiles here, including those for developing ties with Eastern Europe.”
“It is not for nothing,” says René Gurka, “that Berlin leads in the number of foreign students: every third graduate of a Berlin university is a foreigner.” In turn, Germany is the world leader in the number of Eastern European students: of the 250,000 foreigners studying in Germany, about 20% come from Eastern European countries, of which about 20,000 are citizens of Russia and Ukraine. According to the Institute of International Education in Germany, Russia ranks fifth among student donor countries.
Masters Are Welcome Everywhere
Even higher are the chances for a successful career for foreigners who have completed master's degree programs in Germany, which last one to two years. The share of foreign students here is 34% of the total number of students. Graduates have a higher education, work experience from their home country, plus a German diploma, which makes them indispensable at international companies and organizations that are particularly interested in international cooperation, that is, everywhere – in politics, economics, science, communications, and culture.
Ada Akopyan, after studying at the Pedagogical Institute of Vanadzor (Armenia) and two years of work in international non-governmental organizations in her home country, went to Germany to complete her education in the master’s program “Intercultural Communication and European Studies” at the University of Fulda (near Frankfurt). “Master’s programs are very convenient,” she says, “since they automatically recognize our diploma, and the study period is short. In my case, it was two years. I would not have been able to finance such training in England or America, but in Germany it is possible, and moreover, it is realistic to get a scholarship from one of the numerous state and private foundations.”
During her studies, Ada interned at the Society for Technical Cooperation (Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit) – an international organization operating in 120 countries – and upon graduation, she was offered a position as a junior specialist and a two-year contract, which will be extended for several more years this year. Thus, at 26, Ada has two universities, four languages, and four years of experience working in international organizations, including in Armenia, making her experience almost unique. “I wanted to pursue a career abroad from the very beginning. But to do that, I needed to graduate from a university there. And with such a background, promotion or moving to a higher position in any other organization in the world is not a problem,” Ada believes.
Today, about 100,000 foreign citizens with higher education work as employees in Germany. The main areas of application of their knowledge are education, healthcare, information technology and electrical engineering, and services. Demand in these areas already exceeds supply on the national labor market and, according to experts, will continue to grow. Trade unions and associations are desperately lobbying for easier employment of qualified foreigners. The political opposition also demands the same. However, so far positive changes in the law on foreigners have only affected young specialists – graduates of German universities. Whether this will affect the saturation of the German labor market, time will tell. But there are already opportunities to make a career in Germany.