job agencies/ headhunters in Germany

[potential move to Germany]

hi there - looks like my partner is being asked to move to Germany. I am in Supply Management/Purchasing and wondered if anyone has any contacts for agencies/headhunters i could contact to review the job situation? Also any websites i could investigate. thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[cinnamon]

If you go to germany on your own accord it would be wise to be able to read/write/speak german (fluent) then you can start to think of a job!  all the best!

[Helmet]

cinnamon,

Very niave to think all people who visit or relocate to Germany are fluent German speakers.  That is like saying don't go to the UK unless you are fluent in English.  Many people go to 'new' countries without being "fluent".  The Germans are loathe to put up with someone stumbling in their language and will just switch to English if that is the common denominator.  But to expect a new comer to be fluent in German is a high expectation; it is a difficult language to learn and the people are not tolerant of broken German at all unless you are a child.

Get off your high horse.

As for potential move... contact some of the major international search firms like Russell Reynolds, Korn Ferry, Egon Z, Spencer Stuart, Heidrick & Struggles etc, they all probably have offices in Frankfurt.

Good luck.

[cinnamon]

It is totally different in Germany.  Have you been there?  Of course there are many ppl that just go to a country w/o knowledge of the language there..they normally have hard lives.  Europe is different! Going to big contacts does not guarantee one a job because they will still ask you about the language needs, unless you are an IT expert! Because everything will be in german!

[Hans]

Cinnamon,

Was Art von Scheiße ist diese?

Are you serious?

[Hans]

Cinnamon,

Was Art von Scheiße ist diese?

Are you serious?

[Junebug]

I agree with cinnamon. It is a lot easier in Germany if you speak, read and write German. Yes, they will try their best in English when you're a tourist (most people speak English fairly well), but to really have a chance for a decent job you will need to be more or less fluent in German.

Hans - nice try.

[abc]

My impressions are - if you are highly qualified, no one asks you to know German (they might pay your lessons if they like you). Depends on the sector, as well.

[slimfips]

hello, well since i am german, i would like to contribute this:
of course its an advantage to speak the lannguage at least a little bit (though i can understand if people dont learn it cuz its really difficult) but i know of quite a few people who work here without any german knowledge. since there are so many international companies here, many of them also serach for people without knowledge of the german language (especially japanese companies).
well i dont know for which area of germany you are searching for a job but in case it for Hamburg in the North of germany (by the way the most beautiful town ), well there are many many shipping agencies that often hire english-speaking people.
another way to find a job is by contacting the website www.arbeitsamt.de  
this is the german labour office and its also in english language and they tell you how to find a job in germany as a foreigner and about the green card etc etc and also about certain job offers. so better have a go there. Who knows ?  
Hope you will be successful !!!

[Junebug]

Okay, here my 2 cents worth. I am German as well. I lived in Hamburg for three years - during that time I met a few foreigners who spoke German fairly fluent and it is from them that I know it's hard without knowledge of German. Sure there are international companies that will hire you. Shipping lines and freight forwarders are definitely a place to look but if I read correctly the original poster is talking about Supply Management/Purchasing. It basically sounds like the original poster is looking for a trading company of sorts. It of course depends where the consignments are coming from. That will be the language you will need the most. BUT as soon as it's not just buying but also shipping and working with locals to get the material into a warehouse etc. it gets difficult. Apart from that your social life may also be limited.

Your best bet is a large international company. If you're going from here, it'll be a complete change of life - no matter whether you speak German or not.

Good luck!

[Junebug]

To Slimfips,

I've been on the website - where is the link for the English version? I haven't found it so far...

Thanks!

[slimfips]

Hi, Junebug
err okay i just checked the website and -typical german- they took away the english version, so now there is only an english part under the "international" button, but most of the topics are about IT-stuff there.(quite stupid) but there is an e-mail address given for any questions of foreigners who want to work in germany, so maybe this is of help.
then i forgot that the original poster is looking for a trader´s job, so shipping agencies are surely not interesting anymore.
But to spread some optimism at the moment there is a discussion going on here in germany that for the next years we should hire many more foreigners (qualified ones of course) and most people see this in a positive way.
later i post more addresses for a search, now i must be off sorryyyyy

[potential move to Germany]

guys thanks to everyone for their inputs. Actually my boyfriend is German and I am learning so that may make it easier if/when we go there. Appreciate the responses and if anyone else has any other inputs on websites etc would welcome them
Many thanks!!

[slimfips]

it´s me again.
so, some addresses that might be of help (no guarantee): www.faz.de  german newspaper with the biggest job-market in europe (only in english but you can search for companies names) www.escapeartist.com  you have to search for the german part www.greencard-job.com  i never tried this site but maybe you should do  
or just type jobs in germany in a searcg machine like www.google.com  and you receive quite a view company sites that offer jobs
if i hear of better opportunities i be back
Good Luck !!!

[slimfips]

okokokok sometimes i am slightly confused, so the address www.faz.de  is in german language of course. so u click "stellenmarkt". then click "stellenmarkt-online", then click "Firmen von A-Z" and you probably see afield in which you can type a company name or part of it and you can choose the number of weeks that you want the machine to search for advertisments.