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Topping up the budget with temporary jobs
Our two scouts Tomás and Mai soon found out that 643 euros is not a lot of money when it comes to making ends meet every month. The minimum monthly sum that international students have to prove they have before they can be admitted to higher education is tightly calculated. This is why they both decided to look for a temporary student job. Their friend Nina gave them a good tip, namely to first try the job agency offered by student services. Many student services organisations offer this special service for students in cooperation with the local employment agencies.
Student services can help you find a jobStudent jobs are not exactly in plentiful supply: "I immediately found a mini-job in the university cafeteria – 10 hours per week. That's great because I can go directly from my course to work and so don't lose much time," says a satisfied Tomás. Tomás was indeed lucky that he was able to find a job so quickly. "Often it's not that easy to find a student job. When planning how you want to finance your studies, you shouldn't trust blindly in finding work from 'somewhere'," warns Nina, who knows the concerns of international students well from her work as a tutor.
Check employment regulations before taking on a job: "Whatever you do, don't take on a job unless you have checked whether you are allowed to. Otherwise you can get into real trouble with the foreigners authority," is another piece of advice from Nina. Tomás, for example, first had to get approval from the Federal Employment Agency before he could start working. Although Tomás comes from the Czech Republic and so is an EU citizen, restricted access rights to the German labour market will continue to exist for most of the new EU accession countries, like the Czech Republic, until 2011. The same applies to Mai as well, who comes from Vietnam and so from a so-called third country (also known as a non-EU country). This is why Mai first had to turn down a job offer from a friend: "The idea was that I would do freelance translations of specialist texts from Vietnamese into English. But, the German immigration act doesn't allow me to take up freelance work."
Now Mai works as a student assistant in the research lab of her department, where she is also doing her Master's programme. What's good about this is that she's working as a student assistant, which means that she can even work more than the normally allowed 90 days or 180 half days per year. All she has to do is inform the foreigners authority of this job.
Notepad: Pay attention!
Follow the employment laws to the letter
The employment regulations for international students are very strict. You may be expelled if you break them! So before you take up a job, please make sure that you find out whether or not you are allowed to do so. The International Affairs Unit at the student services organisation at your university will be pleased to advise you. You can also download detailed information on the statutory frameworks and provisions on employment here.
Tips and info
Contact your departmental office to find out whether any positions are available for student or graduate assistants or tutors. Libraries and other facilities sometimes post notices with job offers. The student services organisation will also possibly have some tutor positions to fill.
If time and money become tight towards the end of your studies, then contact the International Office to find out about a graduation grant. Many universities receive money from the DAAD to provide such grants.
Tips and info
Where to find jobs
Looking for the right part-time or temporary job? The job agencies for students are the first place to contact. These are often run at your university by the Job Agencies and the student services organisations. Just ask at the student registration office (Studierendensekretariat).
The noticeboards (schwarze Bretter) at the university are an important place to look for jobs. Plenty of jobs are normally advertised there. Another helpful source is provided by the regional and local newspapers which generally have a jobs section in the Wednesday and Saturday editions (and can often also be accessed online). And many universities and student services organisations also offer job exchanges on their websites.
A regular click on one of the transregional job exchanges can also be worth your while. The following offers a small selection of these:
All about the world of work
The following provides a lot of useful information on working and jobs. Who's allowed to work and when?
Who's allowed to work and when?
Students, language course or preparatory course participants from EU and EEA countries have practically the same status as German students. They have free access to the German labour market.
Exception: Under the EU Accession Treaty, students from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia only have restricted access to the German labour market until 2011). Before they can take up a job, they always have to obtain approval from the Federal Employment Agency.
Non-EU citizens and stateless persons
- Students are allowed to work for 90 full or 180 half days per year. Anybody wishing to work longer must first obtain approval from the Federal Employment Agency and the foreigners authority.Exception: Jobs as a student or graduate assistant may exceed the 90-day limit. But the foreigners authority must always be informed.
Independent or freelance work not allowed. - Participants of language courses and preparatory courses may only work with the approval of the foreigners authority and the Federal Employment Agency – and then only in the semester vacation.
- Students from third countries (non-EU countries) registered at a foreign university are not allowed to work in Germany.
Two exceptions: They may spend up to a maximum of three months working in a holiday job that has been arranged through the Federal Employment Agency. And, under certain circumstances, they may complete an internship of up to a maximum of 12 months. This requires that the internships are offered within the scope of international exchange programmes involving associations, public bodies or student organisations and arranged in agreement with the Federal Employment Agency.
Foreign graduates
- can stay in Germany and look for a job here. They have one year to find a position that is appropriate to their qualification. If an appropriate job offer is made, the Federal Employment Agency will carry out a priority check (to ensure that no other persons with priority - i.e. Germans or EU citizens - can take up this job offer). After this, the graduates can receive a residence permit for the pursuit of gainful employment.
- can while, looking for a job, take on temporary jobs to maintain themselves (living expenses). They require approval for this from the foreigners authority and, in most cases, from the Federal Employment Agency as well.
When do what social security contributions have to be paid?
Depending on your kind of employment, you will have to pay various social security contributions. Detailed information on this is provided by the Association of German Student Services Organisations (Deutsches Studentenwerk), which can be downloaded from: www.internationale-studierende.de
We provide an initial overview here:
Jobs in the marginal employment range = 400-euro job = Minijob
Criteria? Regular employment in the private sector (companies and private households) in which you earn no more than 400 euros per month.
Wage tax? None
Social security contributions? You pay neither taxes nor pension contributions. However, the latter are paid by your employer, which means you do earn pension entitlements.
Beware: If you take on several minijobs simultaneously and so earn more than 400 euros per month, you will have to pay taxes.
More info: www.minijob-zentrale.de
Jobs exceeding the marginal employment range
Criteria? Regular employment in the private sector (companies and private households) in which you earn more than 400 euros per month.
Wage tax? Yes. Your wage tax is automatically deducted from your earnings (wage) every month. You need a wage tax card (Lohnsteuerkarte), which you get from the registration authority (Bürgeramt or Einwohnermeldeamt) or municipal authority (Rathaus). If you earn less than 7,664 euros a year, you will get the taxes you paid back at the end of the year. To qualify, you have to complete an income tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung).
Social security contributions? Pension insurance contributions are automatically deducted from your earnings each month: 1.94% if your income is between 400 and 500 euros, rising proportionately to 9.75% for monthly incomes of 800 euros and higher.
Beware: If you work for more than 20 hours a week, you generally also have to pay health insurance and unemployment insurance contributions.
More info: www.deutsche-sozialversicherung.de or www.studentenwerke.de
Casual workers, contract staff, works and services contracts, freelance or independent work
You do not need a wage tax card for these. You have to report the income you generate to the inland revenue office (Finanzamt) at the end of the year by submitting an income tax return (Einkommenssteuererklärung).
Beware: Non-EU citizens and stateless persons are not allowed to take up freelance or independent work.
From my personal experience
Mustafa, Palestinian, about to graduate in business administration
"Balancing act between studies and jobs"
"I work because I have to finance my study and living expenses here. I don't have any other financial support. I found my first job via a friend's contacts. It's always really helpful to know other people. A lot of the job search is done by word of mouth. The student job agency at uni is a good place to find casual work. That practically always works. Unfortunately, they normally only offer short-term work, rarely a regular job. Generally, it's spending a day helping someone move house or something has to be cleared out or cleaned up. I've already done loads of different casual jobs. I worked in a storage house at night, delivered newspapers in the morning and spent two days a week working in a printing shop. In the last semester holidays I spent one and a half months working five days a week. I had to do that to manage financially in the winter months. Because far fewer jobs are offered then than in summer. But when doing all your jobs, you also have to watch out that you don't neglect your studies. Because it makes your studies longer - and you then have to take on more casual jobs to pay for this."
© 2008 Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst e.V. (DAAD), Kennedyallee 50, D-53175 Bonn
Source: http://www.daad.de/deutschland/deutschland/leben-in-deutschland/06167.en.html
Date: 2008-12-04