Contracting in Germany specifically Berlin

[d18dan]

Hi all

My first post. I had a thorough search and couldn't find the information I needed so I really hope you can help.

I am a British citizen but have been living and contracting in Sydney as a IT Senior Project & Program Manager for the last 7 years. I recently got married to a German and she is keen to return home to Berlin. I have been trawling the internet for hours to work out how easy/difficult it would be to get work in Berlin but haven't really found what I need. Im hoping to get advice from any contractors who have worked in Germany (Preferably Berlin) who have little of no German language skills.

Where is the best place to find available contracts? Looks like UK recruiters may be the best for English speaking jobs?

Who are the best UK recruitment companies for contracts within Germany?

Has anybody used a German recruiter?

What sort of rates can senior project managers or program managers expect to earn?

Any more advice or information would be welcome. I love living and working in Sydney so its quite daunting giving it all up to go to Berlin!

Thanks

[Eirikur]

They're using monster quite a lot
get an account on Xing they have a freelancer group as well https://www.xing.com/communities/gro...2559?sc_o=as_g

[stek]

Try gulp.de too though it's in German.

Never saw much in Berlin contract-wise though. Back in 2006 mrs stek was working there and we both liked it but there was nothing...

May have improved now....

[borderreiver]

Xing is definitely the site to be on. I'm on it and I often get contacted about roles in Germany.

But if you don't speak German it will be a challenge, as they say.

[greenlake]

The missus worked at Corning Optical Communications in Berlin for a while recently. However, Corning has been one of her clients for a few years now, and they needed her skills in Berlin for a system rollout.

Can you tap into your existing client network in Sydney and see if any of them have offices in Berlin that may have opportunities requiring your skillset?

If you have a good reputation and track record, leveraging your existing professional network is far easier than going in cold.

[d18dan]

Thanks for the info guys really appreciated. I will look to tap into my existing network but the trouble with Sydney is its so far away and Australia in the grand scheme of things isn't a massive market.

I might have to go down the path of a permy role to start with in Berlin to establish myself and get to know how the market works before I get into contracting although I suspect there would be more contracting roles in Frankfurt or Munich.

failing that I might have to commute to London