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Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help

Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help

Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

Apologies for posting this in English. My German is not good enough to write what I want to write. I got the advice to post from Reddit.

I’m contemplating moving to Germany, and I would really appreciate your take on my situation to help me with the decision making process.

  • 27 year old
  • Would be moving to Germany with my girlfriend
  • Liberal Arts Degree from Ivy League (I know it does not help me, just trying to give as much info)
  • German level currently at A2 (Bilingual in English / Arabic, Turkish B1 / B2 although I have not taken any official exams for it)
  • 2 years experience in commercial banking (credit analysis)
  • Two startups founded and up and running (i’m not worried about money)
  • Passed the three levels of CFA, 2 levels of CMA, 2 levels of FRM, and 2 levels of the CAIA, so passed the American-centric Series 65 and YOU exam. So I’ve passed all the exams, I do not have the experience to get any charter yet.
  • Excel / VBA, Python, Tableau

The desired goal / planned process

  • Move to Germany
  • Enroll in intensive German classes for 2 years
  • Obtain a job in the financial sector (I’m moving to Frankfurt if that matters, but my is open to moving to Berlin if it would be better for me professionally), ideally in equity research or asset management

What level of German would you like? B2? C1? C2?

I’m estimating it would take 2 years of intensive study to get to B2 / C1. By then I’ll be about 30 years old. Would the combo of old age / lack of experience be a serious obstacle in getting an entry-level job in the field assuming?

Would I be able to get part-time or even full-time internships in the field during the first two years while I’m learning the language? even unpaid is fine by me during that stage

Someone told me it’s impossible to get a job in the field unless I have a degree in business or finance. Is that true? Would you like to have a second bachelor’s just to enter the field?

Would I be taxed in Germany on my income from my 2 startups? (no operations in Germany, but I would be doing the bulk of my work on them while I’m residing in Germany). These are registered and tax-paying LLCs, not freelance / independent contractor work.

Are there any standard certifications / licensing exams to pass if I want to work in the field? Any info on this would have been much appreciated because.

  • Any advice that pops in your head that you can give me

    • Thank you all for your help! And apologies again for posting in English or if I’m unknowingly breaking any forum rules.

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Stay in the USA

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Welcome to Germany.

    1. I’d say proper English is not really a requirement for applying in this field. Everyone who works in this sector is at least capable of speaking English at a C1 level. Processes, programs and documentations are mostly in English as well. A bit of understanding might be good though – especially when it comes to meetings and stuff.

    You should see it from a personal side. The better your German is, the better you’ll get along with your colleagues. Obviously not everyone likes the fact that they have to switch to English.

    I do not think so. If I would be in your shoes I’d go for a finance masters degree. University is free in Germany and master’s degrees are mostly in English. Beside you could use this 2 years for studying proper German.

    I am not really sure about that since I am not in this field. Longer unpaid internships are not legal in Germany, so you’re getting at least 1 (if not 2) k a month.

    That is probably true, yes. As I mentioned before, doing a master’s degree could be very helpful for you.

    Do you get out of your start ups? If yes, this would be taxed in Germany since you are living here now. Money is not taxed here.

    Three levels of CFA are enough I’d say. But once again, I am not that familiar with this field.

  • Frankfurt is the capital of banking and finance stuff in Germany. Moving to Berlin does not make sense at all. If you’re more into mellow life, you should consider working for the DAX companies – mostly in the south (Stuttgart, Munich). Here you have a great salary (starting at 70k). Combined with a 35h / week contract and 30 days of vacation a year. Might be the best deal when it comes to W-L balance.

    • reply

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    "Passed the three levels of CFA, 2 levels of CMA, 2 levels of FRM, and 2 levels of the CAIA, so passed the American-centric Series 65 and YOU exam. "

    "Excel / VBA, Python, Tableau"

    "2 years experience in commercial banking (credit analysis)"

    And Ivy Degree, your startup and so on. if that’s true, why do you want to move to germany? Stay in the US.

    Yes, Frankfurt is the place to be for most financial jobs, some companys also have offices in munich and hamburg. So you just leave Berlin to Frankfurt in just a few hours.

    Advice, if you really want to work in AM in germany: Write an full CV with every "useful" thing in it, add copies of the official documents and send them to the big AM companys.
    But call them before sending the stuff, every serious office fluent english speaking germans. Explain your situation, "namedrop" your Ivy school, your CFA and stuff and ask them if you can send them your CV via mail.

    Im pretty sure that you should score a job without fluent german. Much business in the german finance industry is done in english, so it should be possible for you to get in – if your willing to learn german.

    Apply to the big one: GS, JP, MS, DWS, Alliance, BlackRock. just google the biggest ones in germany and call them.

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Let make a long story short:

    In Germany we have MANY students with an economic degree. The financial industry is not going really well and many banks are putting people off and on in finance industry in general. More because of that fact, I would guess the chances to be really low to find a proper job which pays well. Furthermore, the work culture in Germany is much different to other countries.

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    I know you have to have at least a level B2 to get accepted at the university so I guess you need B2 / C1 to find a job.

    My friend studies here she speaks very little German. She got an internship in German Stock Exchange, Frankfurt, so there are some possibilities to get internships without speaking German BUT you can only get an internship masters.

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Rothman wrote on 18.08.2019:

    1. What level of German would you like? B2? C1? C2?

    This depends on the company and the specific job. While studying I did an internship at an international insurance company. It was no problem, since in Germany every higher-educated person can speak English on a sufficient level.
    But of course it’s more comfortable to speak German speakers and very important if you have direct contact to German speaking clients.
    So: It depends.

    1. I’m estimating it would take 2 years of intensive study to get to B2 / C1. By then I’ll be about 30 years old. Would the combo of old age / lack of experience be a serious obstacle in getting an entry-level job in the field assuming?

    I do not think so. But an internship would help significantly.

    1. Would I be able to get part-time or even full-time internships in the field during the first two years while I’m learning the language? even unpaid is fine by me during that stage

    I do not think that there are unpaid internships in finance industry. ;) If your internship lasts longer than three months they are legally required to pay a minimum salary of about 9 € / h (before taxes).

    By the way: For a career in finance Frankfurt sounds perfect.

    1. Someone told me it’s impossible to get a job in the field unless I have a degree in business or finance. Is that true? Would you like to have a second bachelor’s just to enter the field?

    I would not say it was impossible but more difficult. STEM fields are okay (especially science) but liberal arts sounds more difficult. On the other side, you’ve got CFA, so you’ve proved that you have knowledge in this field.
    Maybe you could think about making an online Bachelor Degree at "Fernuni Hagen" parallel to your German lessons if you feel that the degree hurts you.

    1. Would I be taxed in Germany on my income from my 2 startups? (no operations in Germany, but I would be doing the bulk of my work on them while I’m residing in Germany). These are registered and tax-paying LLCs, not freelance / independent contractor work.

    I would suggest you speak to a German Tax Consultant about this topic once. International tax law can be tricky. Probably you do not have to pay taxes in Germany but you are legally required to declare your income.

    Better spend some of the money for a tax claim when your career starts.

    1. Are there any standard certifications / licensing exams to pass if I want to work in the field? Any info on this would have been much appreciated because.

    No Germany-specific exams that I know of (as long as you do not include German Tax Consultants to German Auditors to ‘the field’). Your CFA is great.

    1. Any advice that pops in your head that you can give me

    Speak German!
    I just lost a very smart colleague at the big4 audit firm I work for. She was fired because my boss thought her English had not been improved enough. Otherwise she is brilliant, but for our job.

    You want to be in Germany, as long as you are surrounded by well-educated people, they want to switch to German for you. Speak to speak, hear, write and read teh language as much as you can.
    So, ask them to talk to you in English, set your Netflix settings to "German with German subtitles" (see watch the German show "Dark"), read a German book, listen to some German music.

    You do not have any other language – but the more German, the better and faster you will learn the language.

    Thank you all for your help! And apologies again for posting in English or if I’m unknowingly breaking any forum rules.

    No problem, as I told you. ;)

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Hi,
    Big 4 in general, KPMG specificially, Financial Services, strategy and management consulting and so on.

    I consider your CV very interesting.

    However, are you interested in Working in the FinTech scene in Berlin? I have a lot of connections with former colleagues and friends, who are now successful companies now. They are always searching for eligible candidates.

    Just contact me via the messaging system here or (preferably) via mail at [email protected] and we can connect on LinkedIn. Lets see where we get starting from there.

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    1. C2 for most jobs
    2. 30 years is not considered too old in Germany for any position
    3. Try FinTech StartUps in Berlin. At most of them is the official language spoken
    4. Since you have professional experience that should not be an issue anymore
    5. Cant say for sure without more information. But generally you are taxed where you live
    6. Your CFA is valued in Germany
    7. Have you thought about consulting? Seems like you would have a shot

    reply

    Moving to Germany, wanting to work in the financial sector, need some help / info

    Some of the finance industry in Germany operates in english

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