English-Speaking Jobs in Berlin, How to Find One?

Finding a job in a foreign country can be daunting especially when the main working language in the country is not your mother tongue. This is arguably the number 1 fear for expats moving to the German capital. However, there are in fact many English-speaking jobs in Berlin and international companies are popping up left, right and centre in the city. With a thriving start-up scene, some have even labelled Berlin as the Silicon Valley of Europe. When coupled with a growing hospitality and teaching sector, Berlin is transitioning into a city with good long-term work prospects for English speakers.

In this article, we have laid out some tips and tricks for landing your dream job. For further guidance about moving to Berlin, check out the extensive resources and guides on our homepage.

Related resources

Our quick tips for finding an English-speaking job in Berlin

Be in the city
It's much easier to land a job in Berlin when you are actually living in the city than when you are applying from abroad – so don't be afraid of moving to the city without a job lined up (if visa regulations permit this). That way you are available straight away for interviews, etc. If possible, always have a Berlin address on your CV to show that you are in the city.
Take a German course
While there are many English-speaking jobs in Berlin, it looks good on your CV to show that you are at least starting to learn the language.
Add a professional-looking photo to your CV
Germans often get professional photos taken to put on their CVs, so make sure that you have a high-quality picture of yourself before applying for jobs. This is really important and often a reason why CVs are overlooked in Germany.
Adapt your CV to the German job market
Ensure your CV is formatted and structured similarly to a German CV. For some tips about the structure, content and formatting of your German-style CV, see here.
Quantity vs quality
You need to strike a balance when it comes to the quantity and quality of your applications. Sending out one meticulously crafted application a week is unlikely to give you the best return (unless you really are the dream candidate for a position).
In general, we recommend aiming for 3 thorough applications a day, 5 days a week. This takes persistence, but ensures that you’ll hit around 60 applications a month, in the process greatly increasing your odds of finding an English-speaking job in Berlin.
Get a German mobile number
As soon as you arrive in Germany, get a German mobile number so that you can put it on your CV and are easily contactable by potential employers/recruiters. The more indication that you can give that you are in Germany and ready to work the better – and having a German phone number definitely helps with this.
Have savings
Save as much as possible before the move and delay the move to a later date if you don’t feel you have enough savings behind you. Prepare for the worst and have savings to keep you going for at least three months in Berlin. Salaries are paid monthly in Berlin so you could start a job and not be paid for a month, so it pays to be prepared.
Be flexible
If you focus too much on one area or sector, you may find it much trickier to find a job in Berlin. Be open to other avenues, career paths and opportunities. It may not be your dream job in the beginning, but a foot in the door will often open up opportunities further down the line. Often just having international experience on your CV, even if it’s in a different field, works wonders for your career progression.
Career aside, having the opportunity to live and work in this wonderful city can be more worthwhile than finding the ‘perfect’ job.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren't fantastic jobs out there – we have participants working at Zalando, interning at Spotify, completing apprenticeships in tattoo studios and working at music licensing companies. The city really has something for everyone!

The English-speaking job market in Berlin

Like any other European hub, the Berlin job market can be quite competitive, but our free resources can definitely provide a good platform from which to start your job hunt. In this regard, we recommend that you check out the following:

To get you started, here are just a few of the many companies in Berlin who have a large number of international employees.

Most common English-speaking roles in Berlin

In our experience with helping a large number of people from around the globe move to Berlin, the most common English-speaking jobs in Berlin are currently:

Customer Service
Sales & Business Development
Recruitment
Hospitality (bar / restaurant / hotel / kitchen work)
Childcare & Teaching
Tech & IT
Marketing & Account Management

English-speaking job boards in Berlin

Online job boards are definitely an effective way of job hunting in Berlin, and can give you a broad overview of the English-speaking roles that are out there. But when it comes to using job boards in Berlin, there are some important things to consider.

Large job boards
In general, the easier you come across a job advertisement online, the higher the number of applicants there will be. Therefore, if you focus solely on the large, popular job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.), then you’ll almost certainly be looking at the most viewed and applied for jobs in Berlin.
While the large job boards have the most listings and broadest range of positions, they also have the most online foot traffic, so be aware that you may be competing with 100s of applicants for each role.
Smaller specialised job boards
The best way to stand out and increase your chances of landing interviews in Berlin is to apply for jobs that a smaller group of people have seen. While virtually every job seeker will be viewing the roles posted to large job boards, there are a wide array of smaller, niche job boards that will have far less traffic.
Far from being global jobs boards that cover every job under the sun, these smaller job boards are often focused just on the Berlin job market or a specific industry. For example, Berlin Startup Jobs is a notable example of a small job board that is city-specific and specifically geared towards jobs at startups.
See our job boards guide for a full overview of the best job boards for expats in Berlin.
Go straight to the source
Job boards cost money and a lot of companies and startups in Berlin will therefore not post every opening they have on paid job boards. Even if a company has 15 job openings, their recruitment budget may only allow them to advertise five of these on external job boards.
Therefore, the best way to see all the jobs available at companies is to go directly to their individual career pages. This is where our list of the top 300 Berlin-based companies comes into play as it allows you to quickly go to a company’s career page and see all the roles that they currently have available. This strategy will give you a more complete overview of all the English-speaking jobs in Berlin than you can ascertain from scrolling through job boards.

In general, we recommend finding a balance and spreading your job hunt between large job boards, smaller niche job boards and company career pages.

Below are a few job boards to get you started:

Further to this, it is estimated that 49% of employees working in Berlin startups are foreigners so this is a great place to start when looking for an English-speaking job. Below are a few startup job boards that are definitely worth a closer look:

Job Search on LinkedIn

While we’ve weighed up some things to consider regarding job boards above, it’s important to not overlook the most popular job board on the market; LinkedIn.

In particular, LinkedIn’s advanced search function is really handy for looking for English-speaking jobs in Berlin. To use it effectively, simply set the location to Berlin and use the keywords function to specify the type of work you are looking for, e.g. 'English', 'Spanish', 'business development', ‘marketing’. Job ads are added each day so make sure you’re performing frequent searches and also set up alerts for new job listings.

In addition to using the advanced search function on LinkedIn, also make use of the free 30-day trial of a LinkedIn premium account. This will give you more search options and allow you to message recruiters directly. For further tips about how to use LinkedIn and advice about optimising your profile, see our extended job hunting guide for Berlin.

While LinkedIn is a global behemoth when it comes to finding jobs around the world, Germany also have their own career-oriented social networking site called Xing. The platform is similar to LinkedIn and is widely used in Germany. While mainly aimed at the German-speaking market, they also advertise English-speaking jobs in Berlin.

Facebook

Staying on the topic of social networking sites, Facebook must not be overlooked as a source for English-speaking jobs in Berlin. As most job boards charge for listings, many recruiters and companies are turning to Facebook to advertise positions as it’s completely free. Here are some Facebook groups to get your started on your job hunt:

Hospitality jobs in Berlin

While many people reading this will be looking for business/startup jobs, Berlin’s hospitality and retail sector is also a fantastic place to find an English-speaking job.

Over the years, we’ve collated a list of bars, restaurants, kitchens, hotels and shops in Berlin that hire non-German speakers.

If you are already living in Berlin but don’t have success when applying for these hospitality companies online, then there is no harm in dropping off your CV to the manager in person. This will give you the opportunity to build an instant rapport with the manager, which can really help your chances in the hospitality and retail sector.

If you wish to work in hospitality, it’s highly recommended that you take a German course or two. Despite hospitality being one of the main sectors that hire English speakers in Berlin, it's much better if you can communicate on some level with your German-speaking customers and it will significantly help your chances of finding a job. Prior to arriving in Berlin, study some of the common German terms and phrases used in the hospitality sector. This will make your life a little easier as well as the lives of your German-speaking customers.

Visas for Germany

If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen, then securing an English-speaking job in Berlin is just part of the process. In order to actually start working, you’ll need a to obtain a suitable visa for Germany before your first day on the job.

Note: If you are from Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Israel, New Zealand or the US, you can enter Germany visa-free for 90 days and then apply for a visa at the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany during this period. One exception is the South Korean Working Holiday Visa, which must be applied for in South Korea.

Citizens from all other countries must apply for a visa at their local German embassy or consulate before entering Germany.

To help you out, we’ve put together some useful guides based on whether you need to apply for a work-related visa for Germany before or after entering Germany:

Visa guides for applying at German embassies
or consulates overseas

Visa guides for applying at immigration office in Berlin

We recommend reading these visa guides prior to applying for English-speaking jobs in Berlin. Having a clear understanding of the visa application and approval process will definitely give potential employers confidence that your hiring process will be smooth and that you’ll actually be legally able to take the job if it is offered. Employers in Berlin sometimes have little understanding of how to hire international workers, so being able to clearly lay out the process will work wonders in interviews.

Documents required to start a job in Berlin

In addition to a suitable work visa for Germany, you’ll also need to get hold of a series of documents before you can be fully on-boarded at your English-speaking job in Berlin. While you can start a job in Berlin without all of these, you’ll definitely need them by your first payroll in order for your new employer to be able to process your salary payment:

Tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer)
Your German tax ID determines which tax bracket you fall into in Germany. To obtain your tax ID, you must officially register your address in Berlin, a process that is known as Anmeldung.
When you complete your Anmeldung, your tax ID is automatically generated and mailed to your address after approximately 2 to 4 weeks.
If you are unable to provide your employer with your tax ID, you’ll be taxed at a much higher rate until you can provide the document. If you are struggling to find an address in Berlin where you can complete your Anmeldung, then you may be interested in booking a furnished apartment with Smartments. Smartments provide well-located, studio accommodation and offer Anmeldung so long as you book for at least 14 nights. By opting for Smartments, you can get registered within days of arriving in Berlin.
German Health Insurance Membership Certificate (Mitgliedsbescheinigung)
Once employed in Germany, it is compulsory to sign up for German public health insurance. If you are in regular employment, your employer will need your health insurance details as your contributions will be deducted straight from your monthly salary.
For public health insurance in Germany, our favourite choice is TK insurance, which is consistently rated the no.1 insurer in Germany and is well-suited to expats living in Germany.
For further details about the health insurance system in Germany and why we like TK insurance, see our health insurance guide.
German Social Insurance Certificate (Sozialversicherungsausweis)
On top of health insurance contributions, you will also be required to make social security contributions if working in regular employment in Germany. Your German public health insurance provider (TK insurance) will be able to provide you with your social security number once you have registered for a health insurance policy.
German bank details
Most German employers will only pay your salary into a German bank account. Our favourite options for this are an N26, Vivid or bunq account, all of which can be quickly opened online. These options will ensure you can provide your employer with a German IBAN and BIC code prior to your first payday.
Red Card (Rote Karte)
If you want to work in hospitality in Germany (bars, restaurants, kitchens, etc.) then you will need a Rote Karte (Red Card), which is a safety and sanitation certificate.
We recommend arranging your Rote Karte as soon as possible as many hospitality companies will not hire you without one.
For more detailed instructions, see our blog on how, where and when to apply for your Rote Karte in Berlin.

All of these requirements are expanded upon in our Guide to Starting a Job in Berlin.

I really hope this post has been helpful in determining how and where to find an English-speaking job in Berlin and also in laying out the necessary steps you need to take when you do find a role in the German capital. For further information and tips on moving to Berlin, check out the guides and resources on our homepage.