This is Alex.
Alex, like any Ukrainian IT specialist, is indecently talented, really hardworking and full of great ambitions. Freud would cry :)
Alex works for an outsourcing company, rents an apartment with his wife, travels every season. Alex can buy 2319 Big Macs with his monthly income.
*Big Mac Index for Ukraine is $1.94.
Portrait of Alex
- Alex is 30 years old
- He has a “work-life balance” position.
- He runs with the dog every morning.
- Alex has a full higher profile education.
- He is satisfied with his work at the moment.
- His average monthly income is $4,500.
- He has 8 years of general experience in IT and 5 years of experience with current technology (Java).
- He has been working for the current company for 2 years.
- He has additional freelance work.
- He is afraid of downshifting and letting his DotA team down.
It is often said about a developer like Alex: "he sits on his ass straight, doesn’t spam with his CV and just lives and drinks beer."
Alex decided to relocate
Alex has always been interested in the experience of living in another country. He learned about the benefits of living in Germany from his friends, who moved to Munich, Berlin, Zurich. After comparing the cost of living between Kyiv and Berlin and surfing Google (see Useful Links), Alex and his wife decided to try it.
Alex's step-by-step actions
1. Search for an open position
First of all, Alex duplicated his full LinkedIn profile on Xing, mentioned the desire for relocation, and posted his resume on the Monster job search site. Alex was in no hurry, so he decided to spend a month in passive search.
For information: if you decide to send your CV to companies, you will need to prove your qualifications to a potential German employer. Your email with only a resume attached (and, moreover, if it is in Word format) will immediately go to the trash, use only PDF. So you need:
1) a short motivation letter in English*, where you describe how you found this position, why you want to work for this company, how you can be useful, provide links to Twitter and GitHub;
2) CV, always with a cheerful photo;
3) feedback from previous jobs.
Attached PDF docks should preferably be in German.
*If your German is below B2 level, but you plan to work for a company where they speak English, you can send an e-mail in English.
2. Interview. Offer. May peace come.
And two weeks later, a recruiter from Berlin called Alex, asked a number of questions and offered the next Skype interview.
Note: you can get a call from the recruiter of the agency (often German companies outsource recruiters from London). The main thing is to be able to sell yourself, that is, to have good soft skills. Here Alex was supported by familiar recruiters.
Then there were two Skype interviews with an HR of this company. And after completing the test task, Alex was invited for a personal interview (the flight and hotel were paid).
Note: Gauss's method Alex used pleasantly surprised the company, and contributed to the positive decision.
At the face-to-face interview, Alex first had an hour-long conversation with the team lead. Then there was a joint lunch with the team. Afterwards, he talked with PM during one hour. And finally, the discussion of organizational issues with HR. The next day, Alex received an offer and accepted it. After he returned to Kyiv, Alex read the contract in detail and agreed to sign it. Alex's joy knew no bounds :)
3. Visa for two. How to be with a dog?
A hot period has begun for Alex and his wife: preparing documents for a visa. When the contract arrived, he booked der Termin* (date and time of the meeting), went to the German embassy with a full package of documents. And a month later, Alex had a visa (it was very convenient to track day X online). This was a work visa, which is issued for 3-6 months to settle in a new city, register in an apartment and apply for a Blue Card in Germany.
*Remember this word, you will often hear/use it in Germany.
Collecting documents for his four-legged friend turned out to be a bit difficult process for Alex.
4. What to do after relocation?
In Germany, wherever you settle at the beginning, you must register at your local registration center during the first 1-2 weeks. Alex's employer took care of him and provided him with a service apartment. Alex took his residence permit, passport, employment contract and went to the bank to open an account. The first salary is not far off :)
5. It’s time to get a Blue Card
Having previously booked the date of submission of documents for getting a Blue Card, Alex went to the local department for work with foreigners. As for Alex's wife, she submitted only: residence permit, passport, marriage certificate. The family received their Blue Card three weeks later.
For information: to use the right to a Blue Card (permanent residence) you need to:
1) have a diploma of European standard or make recognition of Ukrainian diploma;
2) have a signed contract with the employer and a salary of at least 41,808 euros per year (including taxes).
Note: we recommend translating the documents and putting the apostille in Ukraine (only because of the price).
Maybe you will say that relocation was very easy for Alex… Actually, yes, you are right. That’s because everything was according to the instructions :)
Useful links:
How to write a CV
Cost of living comparison between Ukraine and Germany
Quality of life in Berlin
Tax calculator
Information about a Blue Card: bluecard-eu.de/blaue-karte-eu-deutschland
migrant.biz.ua/dovidkova/emigracia/blue-card-v-ievropi
germania.diplo.de/blob/blue-card-data.pdf
List of documents for a visa
The transport of animals rules
Recognition of the diploma
Developers share their experience of relocation: youtube.com/user/777voldemar/featured
vas3k.ru/blog/go_to_berlin
dou.ua/forums/topic/23126
We would like to thank Lilia for the insight information for this article, who has been living in Germany for more than 6 years together with her husband.
