Movin to Germany...not?

[TheTodd]

...
Allow me to make a remark you might wanna think about. For me as a German my first impression when reading your post was: Ha! That is funny. Someone wants to move to here - while I know a lot of german peeps dreaming about going away from Germany.

Proportionaly funny idea for us too.
Here, in Croatia, where me and Yozilla live, for as long as I can remember, Germany has been a first option on peoples tongues for a standard of living. Almost everything was done and is done better there. For many things that were wrong here, people would point out: "That is not the way it is done in Germany!". So, for us, why would anyone go anywhere else but IN Germany?

 

[Ursus Minor]

Yozilla, did you know that there are 400,000 people of Croatian descent living in Germany (mostly in the south) and 80,000 Croatian nationals as well? They might prove a reliable source of contact and information for you once you've moved.

Should the ❄ hit the fan (which could be in six months or six years) then Croatia will only be a one day car ride away.
(Depending on the road conditions)

 

[Yozilla]

"That is not the way it is done in Germany!". So, for us, why would anyone go anywhere else but IN Germany?

Yeah many are leaving for Germany, some for Ireland, other anywhere just to escape capsizing nation. Almost feels like California

Interesting clue could also be the Agrokor affair, just like before nineties - little before wars in Yugoslavia - was Agrokomerc scandal with infamous Babo from Velika Kladuša in Bosnia.

And Twin Towers are being built in very Split... Mamma Mia

 

[Yozilla]

Yozilla, did you know that there are 400,000 people of Croatian descent living in Germany (mostly in the south) and 80,000 Croatian nationals as well? They might prove a reliable source of contact and information for you once you've moved.

Yeah the power of statistics - the problem is Croats are almost like French - although much poorer - from Victor Hugo's Les miserables - arrogant winers/whiners and backstabbers... Of course there must be some exceptions to rules... Little help i've got was from non-croats overhere...

 

[Mari]

Hi,

Allow me to make a remark you might wanna think about. For me as a German my first impression when reading your post was: Ha! That is funny. Someone wants to move to here - while I know a lot of german peeps dreaming about going away from Germany.

This strike me with a surprise; I don´t know how is it in other parts of Germany, but here in North Rhine Westfalen everybody seems so happy and I didn´t hear anybody speaking of moving away.

Another thing; I have had distant plans for moving; at that time it was a huge wave of people moving out from Croatia to Ireland (and is still ongoing) and I also thought about that.
I had one serious offer from Ireland, everything was setup for contract signing but in the end it went dead.

After that I´ve just kept doing my job and didn´t search for new opportunities. I have had a good job in a great small company with a good payment (for Croatian standards) but it wasn´t enough because my debts were bigger than the income and getting bigger (but that´s another story).
Then came the offer from Germany to my company, that they are in search for consultants and I took the interview - just out of curiosity, to see how an interview goes with a company so big and important.
In the end they decided to hire me (!!!) - you can imagine my surprise! (Actually, much later I´ve found out that I was as good as any other candidate, but they hired me because I´m a woman and they wanted a nother woman in their team :D )
I actually turned them down at first because I have a family and didn´t want to move for a 3-4 months and stay away from my kids and there was no pint of moving them for such a short time and then again move back to Croatia. My kids were 5 and 3 years old. So I told them that for me only works longer term contracts and actually they were happy to hear that.
So there I was - to move or not.
You see, I´ve NEVER EVER imagine to live in Germany simply because I´ve always imagined to live at the sea side - I just LOVE the sea, I cannot explain it but even when I was living in Croatia whenever I went to the sea side and saw the sea I started crying. So it´s not just home sick thing, it something deeper for me.
So to move or not to move away to Germany was for me really a puzzle - why Germany!?

In the end we moved.
When I came here to Bonn and I saw the Rhine river - I was astonished. We are in a flat at the right side of the Rhine, we have a 15mins walk to the beach and when I sit there at the shore and watch the river, I feel like I´m at the sea side. The water makes me calm and peaceful. My kids are happy here and I now after 3,5 years I´m moving to real full-time job. (I was on contracts by now).

So you see, what I´m trying to say, you never know where you´ll end up in the end. :)

Should the hit the fan (which could be in six months or six years) then Croatia will only be a one day car ride away.
(Depending on the road conditions)

I´m also quite concerned about that, but then in the end - it will be a global event and no one knows for sure where it will hit the most. Currently the weather here is the same as in Croatia. Rain and cold.
At this time in Croatia, average temperature was over 25 with a lot of sun - some were already swimming in the south.
Now it´s rainy and cold the same as here in Bonn.
So what we can do is stay sharped and prepare.... :/

Sorry for a long post, I hope it helps to hear another experience and reasons behind my movement.

M.

 

[gnosisxsophia]

However, there's a host of other online options (besides Goethe) you can use, especially if you'd have to move around a lot. One app you can use for free is Duolingo.

Thank you for the inspiration Learner

Have decided to commence acclimatising via immersing myself in Rammstein.

Probably an Arian thing

 

[Aiming]

I was generally contacted by agencies like Work in time, Ideale jobs which are intermediaries, some kind of leasing employers to interested companies - and some of them even have almost identical web sites 🕸. Fishy.

Perhaps it's useful for you to be aware of some basics regarding getting work in Germany, going with your present situation.
For one, the first step towards a job will be via a recruitment agency, especially given your lack of German. If you accept a job offer by a recruitment agency, you'll probably only get a job in a helping position, that is, in your case, the helper of an electrician.

It's unrealistic to expect that a company in Germany will hire you directly - unless the boss happens to be Croatian as well.

So what to do? There's another option with a better professional outlook for you in the long term: You can apply for a recognition procedure at the IHK (=international chamber of commerce) or the HWK (=chamber of commerce). That means you apply for them to officially recognize your Croatian profession as meeting German standards. You can make this application even while still residing in Croatia.

Next step is, as already mentioned: in order for you to get hired by a German company directly, and not having to go via a recruitment agency, you'll have to have at least B1 language level - at least! That's important simply because you'll need to be able to understand what your boss wants you to do, you'll need to be able to read the wiring diagram, and of course you'll need to be able to handle customer communication.

Another option is to write to Croatian culture associations in Germany (here's one example), asking them whether they can help you with professional contacts and networks, and / or give you more specific advice on how to proceed further, what else you'll need to be aware of, etc.

Oh and i would like to attend some German classes aber ich bin keine Pfenig fur mehrere jahren

Well, where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[Yozilla]

Thanke schon Herr Aiming fur very detailed informacion (typically deutcsh) - ups already mixing languages, Bitte entschuldigung; jet i don't remember being i coma lately hehe... For now moving to Germany is on hold due to car accident that happened a couple weeks ago; I was out of me car when some tow truck driver tried to pass and damaged the rear left side of meine auto - so i am now waiting for insurance companies to sort their businesses out...

 

[Yozilla]

Oh yes, beside those electrician job positions by several recruitment agencies in Germany i was called from some Dutch company to work as electrician in slaugterhouse . One of the catches is that it is very hot in Netherlands at present, and The Heat i've endured quite enough in Dalmatia for 50 years - I always dreamed of spending the summer somewhere in mountains (maybe somewhere btw Rhine river and Shwartzwald 🏞)...

Also another German recruiting company contacted me again for position of field service technician for Flaschenrücknahmesysteme (Bottles return systems) where among requirement one is to be Schmutzresistent [muck-proof oder?] - ... I had talks on couple of occasions with them already, but was scraped, and almost forgot about them - will see how this one will go on...

🛠

 

[Cosmos]

Have decided to commence acclimatising via immersing myself in Rammstein.

Personally I think Rammstein isn't anything useful in order to acclimatize oneself either to the german language or culture
You'll be far better of by reading some good german books and/or engaging in other language exercises.

 

[Altair]

Personally I think Rammstein isn't anything useful in order to acclimatize oneself either to the german language or culture
You'll be far better of by reading some good german books and/or engaging in other language exercises.

I agree. A better time investment would be learning German. Just being able to speak English is not enough here for the most jobs.

 

[Julius]

Sometimes one just needs to be thrown out of the imaginary helicopter directly into the 'jungle'... I am sure that if you have already decided, there is no turning back; but only you can answer that.
I sometimes get 'obsessed' with attaining something, a strong will to be somewhere doing something specific that doesn't leave my mind 24/7 until I do it or just let it pass with some sacrifice. Some of these have led to learning that some obsessions are not useful and are a waste of time, learning to distinguish bad outside influences; others have led to very good and useful things for me and my family, like my current job as a happy marine electronics service engineer.
It was scary to leave the security of the old certain (forever) job for the initial uncertainity of this one, but it proved to be so much more rewarding as a professional, and it allows me to learn so much more new things that I am an enthusiast about, attending ships in ports to repair, upgrade, etc. By the way marine electronics service engineers are in need and in lack in europe. If you know electronics, a little IT, can learn with enthusiasm and be sharp when you need to be, maybe it cold be an option for you.

Regards

 

[gnosisxsophia]

Personally I think Rammstein isn't anything useful in order to acclimatize oneself either to the german language or culture
You'll be far better of by reading some good german books and/or engaging in other language exercises.

Haha,

Thanks Pashalis, as dearly as I would love the facility to read Goethe, amongst others, in the native language. Unfortunately as an Antipodean my exposure to Germanic culture and language has been sparse.

Coming off such a low base, interestingly I find Rammstein an effective medium for altering my linguistic framework and thought process?

Funnily enough, German also appears far more intuitive and logical than other languages sampled from distance?

Duolingo an embarrassing medium however...

Best Regards

J

 

[gnosisxsophia]

I agree. A better time investment would be learning German. Just being able to speak English is not enough here for the most jobs.

Chipping away it thanks Altair

Thankfully I’ve spent a bit of time with German power engineers and can remember most of the critical stuff;

• Arbeit macht du frei
• Mehr bier

The rest was a bit rude...