Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
Jun 7th 2011, 4:34 pm
#1
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Joined: Jun 2011
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Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
Hi,
I’m in my mid 30s and currently living and working in Manchester. Just got a job offer to work in Berlin. I have been to Berlin before and I always found it an amazing city. Yet living in a city is always different. So my first question is:
How easy is Berlin to live in? How is the quality of life? How cheap/ expensive is it?
My partner, who’s German, did not get any job offer… Meaning that he will have to find one. Despite being German, he lived in Manchester for half of his life, never ever worked in Germany, and family is not from Berlin. His background is in social sciences. So, second question:
How easy/ difficult it is to find a job in Germany, and in social sciences?
I have not made up my mind yet about the job – I’m just collecting advice at the moment… So many, many thanks, in advance, for your good advice!
I’m in my mid 30s and currently living and working in Manchester. Just got a job offer to work in Berlin. I have been to Berlin before and I always found it an amazing city. Yet living in a city is always different. So my first question is:
How easy is Berlin to live in? How is the quality of life? How cheap/ expensive is it?
My partner, who’s German, did not get any job offer… Meaning that he will have to find one. Despite being German, he lived in Manchester for half of his life, never ever worked in Germany, and family is not from Berlin. His background is in social sciences. So, second question:
How easy/ difficult it is to find a job in Germany, and in social sciences?
I have not made up my mind yet about the job – I’m just collecting advice at the moment… So many, many thanks, in advance, for your good advice!
Jun 18th 2011, 2:14 pm
#2
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 6
Re: Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
Dpends on your own situation etc but Berlin is a capital city and therefore always one step ahead of any provincial city in any country.
Jun 22nd 2011, 8:59 am
#3
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 168
Re: Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
Berlin is a great place to be, but finding a job is another matter. Maybe someone here living in Berlin could suggest a website for an employment exchange, local paper etc. There is also the following: www.manpower.de
Jun 25th 2011, 10:06 am
#4
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Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Dusseldorf
Posts: 36
Re: Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
well, i personally find Berlin quite an ugly city, with all that comunistic blocks around... but for you it is different and interesting, so i guess you will like it more. it does offer a lot in terms of social life indeed.
compared to west Germany, you can rent there cheaper (especially in the east part), but as the others already said - finding a job is another matter.
it is difficult, because Berlin is like an "island" in the middle of nowhere in east germany.
literally.
i worked near Berlin 2 yrs ago and i will never ever repeat this mistake again. east germany is significantly poorer than the west part, the people are still with the comunistic mentality they had before the Wiedervereinigung, no jobs, they are still sucking onto west germany for money (i am obliged to pay 60 euros per month for east germany as a Solidaritaetsbeitrag).
it has become better in the last few years, but as i wrote, Berlin is the only place in the whole eastern part of the country (apart from Dresden), which can offer better social life and eventually work. but as you can imagine, everybody from the locals is trying to find a job there...
so the competition is quite tough and the job offers are limited + the city is not that big despite of being germany's capital.
what exactly can you work with a degree in social sciences - a teacher? social worker? what else?
i dont know whether your boyfriend would manage to find a job at all, especially if you have no idea how to look for it and you dont know anybody there + having no german degree/qualification that meets their requirements for this particulat job.
On the other hand, if your salary is good, you will be able to live together with it, but i dont think you would manage to maintain a family with it (i.e. a child), unless you earn at least 2500 euros per month.
you can better decide whether this is a good solution for you on the long run. also depends on whether you speak german? no chance to find a job without speaking the language well (unless u get transferred here from an international company as in ur case). there are some brits around too (in berlin more americans, but i flew with an englishman who works for Opel in Berlin 2 weeks ago from London, some meet in Starbucks on Friedrichsstrasse for a cup of coffee on saturday morning).
but again - berlin is like an island in the middle of nowhere in the poorest part of germany - he either manages to find a job there or stays unemployed all the time.
if you think this relationship is really important to you, i would suggest that you check whether you could get transferred to west germany. the chance of him finding job here are higher (even if its not really social sciences, but any job) and wont be limited within one city only.
if your relationship does not play such a significant role for your decision and the job offer in Berlin is a good one (for me this means a sallary of at least 2000 euros/month after taxes) - take it, u will certainly have some interesting time there.
compared to west Germany, you can rent there cheaper (especially in the east part), but as the others already said - finding a job is another matter.
it is difficult, because Berlin is like an "island" in the middle of nowhere in east germany.
literally.
i worked near Berlin 2 yrs ago and i will never ever repeat this mistake again. east germany is significantly poorer than the west part, the people are still with the comunistic mentality they had before the Wiedervereinigung, no jobs, they are still sucking onto west germany for money (i am obliged to pay 60 euros per month for east germany as a Solidaritaetsbeitrag).
it has become better in the last few years, but as i wrote, Berlin is the only place in the whole eastern part of the country (apart from Dresden), which can offer better social life and eventually work. but as you can imagine, everybody from the locals is trying to find a job there...
so the competition is quite tough and the job offers are limited + the city is not that big despite of being germany's capital.
what exactly can you work with a degree in social sciences - a teacher? social worker? what else?
i dont know whether your boyfriend would manage to find a job at all, especially if you have no idea how to look for it and you dont know anybody there + having no german degree/qualification that meets their requirements for this particulat job.
On the other hand, if your salary is good, you will be able to live together with it, but i dont think you would manage to maintain a family with it (i.e. a child), unless you earn at least 2500 euros per month.
you can better decide whether this is a good solution for you on the long run. also depends on whether you speak german? no chance to find a job without speaking the language well (unless u get transferred here from an international company as in ur case). there are some brits around too (in berlin more americans, but i flew with an englishman who works for Opel in Berlin 2 weeks ago from London, some meet in Starbucks on Friedrichsstrasse for a cup of coffee on saturday morning).
but again - berlin is like an island in the middle of nowhere in the poorest part of germany - he either manages to find a job there or stays unemployed all the time.
if you think this relationship is really important to you, i would suggest that you check whether you could get transferred to west germany. the chance of him finding job here are higher (even if its not really social sciences, but any job) and wont be limited within one city only.
if your relationship does not play such a significant role for your decision and the job offer in Berlin is a good one (for me this means a sallary of at least 2000 euros/month after taxes) - take it, u will certainly have some interesting time there.
Last edited by tsveti; Jun 25th 2011 at 10:15 am.
Aug 25th 2011, 5:27 pm
#5
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Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Berlin
Posts: 20
Re: Moving to Berlin from Manchester - would you say is a good move?
Oh Berlin is a great city besides the weather.... variety of Restaurants....cheap food and drinks, great metro system lots of parks and lakes.
Plus lots of English speaking people there quite a lot of English speaking people meetings.
Plus lots of English speaking people there quite a lot of English speaking people meetings.
