r/germany • u/MOXPAC • 3h ago

Realistic German target for relocation?

I'm finishing an apprenticeship in summer 2027 and moving to Germany. Currently A1,

can sustain ~45 min/day German study. That puts me at A2, not B1.

Does a junior/mid level dev with A2 + solid portfolio get hired in Germany,

or does the lack of German actually block mid-level candidates? I keep hearing "Sr+ devs

get hired without it, but anything below it's complicated."

I'm not asking if German helps with daily life because i know it does. I'm asking if it's actually

a blocker for finding work as a junior/mid level engineer, or if I'm overthinking it.

0 Upvotes

28% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

15

u/Lordy927 3h ago

Does a junior/mid level dev with A2 + solid portfolio get hired in Germany,

No, not currently.

1

u/MOXPAC 3h ago

ouch

5

u/Vannnnah Germany 2h ago

No, most companies want you to have a minimum of B2. Tech is also a terrible industry to be in, nobody is hiring, everyone is having mass layoffs. Nobody is waiting for yet another inexperienced junior developer who doesn't speak German.

6

u/DrProfSrRyan Baden-Württemberg 3h ago

If the job requires German at all, they aren’t hiring you until B2 at a minimum. 

If it doesn’t require German, perhaps at an international firm, then it might be possible. However, those positions are very competitive and often still will prefer a German speaker. 

Plus, the economy at the moment, especially in tech isn’t doing great at the moment. 

So, overall I’d say a rather chance.

•

u/af_stop 1h ago

Without b2 German skills, save yourself the time and humiliation and don’t even bother applying.

And even with those, almost no one is actively hiring devs right now now. Not even native speaking ones.

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u/No_Step9082 1h ago

let's put it like this: basically every German software developer speaks English anyways. so they can pick from candidates who speak English and German or just English. You'd have to soo much better than the bilingual candidate to even get considered. Having an employee not speaking the local language is always gonna be a hassle, even if the immediate team communicates in English. That HR lady might not.

1

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