In our new series 'My expat job' we interview expats working in Germany to get advice about making a career here. In the first instalment we talk to one American about her work at anti-corruption NGO Transparency International.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Expatica removed the name of the subject at her request.

What do you do and what does your job involve?

I am a senior research coordinator for [the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation] Transparency International in Berlin. I work in the research department, managing a study of anti-corruption institutions in different countries.

We carry out country studies all over the world. I am in charge of finding the authors, helping them conduct their research, reading their reports--a lot of them are not native speakers of English--and then bringing it all together for publication.

Sarah N Repucci is a senior research coordinator with Transparency International

Before coming here I worked for an NGO in New York that does very similar work. I had an interest in moving to Europe and I was familiar with this organisation, so I would check their website once in a while. When I saw this job opening, I applied.

What was the application and interview process like?

I submitted the same CV I used in the US. They called me for a phone interview, and then I came to interview in person, all in English. It did not feel like a German organisation until I had to deal with the German bureaucracy after I arrived.

What sort of contract are you on? Do you work freelance or are you an employee?

I am an employee and have a two-year German contract. That is typical in this organisation: most people start with a two-year contract.

My benefits are based on the German system. I pay for the public health insurance, and I receive the other standard German benefits: the long-term health insurance and retirement and other things I'll never use. And we have pretty good vacations [i.e. six weeks], at least as far as an American is concerned.

What are your working conditions and colleagues like?

There are about 50 people in the office. About 75 percent are from outside of Germany, but many of them were already here when they applied for the job; they did not necessarily come to Germany to work here. It is a group of really dedicated, smart people who believe in what they do, which I suppose is inherent in working for an NGO. It is also very welcoming - because so many of the people here are also transplants, they understand what it's like to be new. Many of them do not have local friends, they hang out with people from work, so it is pretty friendly.

What sort of hours do you work?

Very basic, 9 to 5, plus the time you take off for lunch.

How important is it to know German in your job?

In the job, not at all. Our official office language is English. Obviously you hear a lot of German in the office; the Germans speak it with each other, and a lot of the other employees speak German as well. But you don't need German at all, and there are people here who don't speak any German.

What are the best and worst things about your job?

The best thing for me is that the work is really interesting and it changes a lot. I don't really think of it as work; the time passes quickly. In a lot of ways it is like being in school [i.e. university]; I am always learning something.

I also like the fact that I can speak four languages every day. In America I was an oddity because I spoke more than one language, but almost everybody at TI speaks at least three languages, and many of them are native speakers of more than one. So I can speak Spanish with the Latinos and French with the Francophones, and obviously German and English. That is really fun and challenging.

The worst thing is that we work non-profit, so we don't make very much. But in Berlin it isn't as much of a problem, because the cost of living is so low.

What kind of salary range could an expat working in an NGO in Germany expect?

It depends on whether you are starting at the entry level or at a higher level. For example, I have a Masters degree and six years of work experience and I think at my level the range is somewhere between EUR 2500 and EUR 3500 a month before tax. As an American the tax is the real hardship.

A lot of people come for internships, which are very poorly paid at EUR 300 a month, but some internships lead to real jobs afterwards. Many of the permanent employees used to be interns.

How does the salary compare to the US?

I had a very comparable job in New York, and the gross salary is very similar. The taxes are obviously much lower in New York, but I end up ahead here because the cost of living is so much lower. So I would say it is better than New York.

What are the biggest differences between working here and in the States?

There are a lot of funny things about the office culture that are really different from what I'm used to. For instance they don't use filing cabinets; when I arrived I didn't know what to do with my papers. Instead they use binders and they punch holes in everything; for me that was totally foreign. This kind of little thing really doesn't really matter, but it trips you up every time you have to do something. I would say that is the biggest difference for me.

Another difference is that in New York we went out to lunch every day; here everybody brings their lunch. But I think that is a German thing rather than a TI thing.

Another example is that my team sits together in a big room, so you overhear everybody's phone conversations. When people come in to talk to my officemates I want to say "can't you go someplace else so I can concentrate?". In New York I had my own office.

Also sick leave. In the States I had a certain number of sick days, and if I decided I was sick, I called in and used a sick day. Here, in order to use a sick day I have to have a note from my doctor. I'm only allowed to take one sick day without a note. On the other hand, this means as long as I have a doctor's note, I can be out for up to something like six weeks. I would have leave without pay in the States if I were out for that long. So there is a funny trade off.

Also, the doctor decides how long you need to stay home, and because of that you know how long you are going to be sick. This means that people call and say, "I'm going to be out for three days," instead of saying, "I don't know, I might try to come in tomorrow." People don't come in when they're sick, they stay home; that's all very different from what I'm used to.

Have you had any problems with German bureaucracy?

While TI treats us as German employees, not as expats, they facilitate the employment process. As an American I am allowed to apply for my work permit from Germany. So I came here with no visa, and TI has been very helpful. They go to the employment office for me, and they tell me which papers I need. My German is not good enough to navigate the bureaucracy, so it is good that TI does it for me.

The problem is that you don't get paid until your work permit comes in. When you receive it, you get back-pay to the date you began. I have now been here for three months and have no salary; that has gotten a little tough.

My work permit was held up because the employment office wanted proof that I really have a Masters, which I couldn't provide because as an American we don't carry around proof of our degrees. My degree certificate is in a box in my father's basement, there was no way I was going to get it, so I had to have the school send something. It has been two weeks since then. No one knows how long it will be before I have a salary, it is all up to the German bureaucracy.

Are there any differences in what your company is looking for in terms of qualifications and experiences, compared to the US?

At my level, no. Because what we would consider a Masters is just an undergraduate degree for Germans, they all have Masters degrees of a sort. So probably at the entry level people have a higher degree here than for the same position in the US. Normally in this field in the States you would come straight out of university into the NGO sector, you'd work for a few years, you'd go back and get a Masters and then return at a higher level.  Here they go to school straight through.

How does this job fit into your career plans?

Given that my field is very international, whether I go back to the States or I stay here, it is good to have experience working in Europe. The Europeans do things differently from the Americans. They tend to be perceived as having a more global view and a more bottom-up rather than top-down approach. Because of that, as an American I am perceived as having a bias. Working here will give me a more balanced approach.

How easy or difficult would it be for an expat coming to Germany to find a job in your line of work?

It is hard to say because I did not come here without a job. The problem is that this kind of research NGO in Germany is not very well developed. There are not a lot of organisations, which makes it difficult to find a job. Transparency International is the only international non-governmental organisation that has its headquarters in Berlin.

I think it is definitely easier to come here to work for an NGO if you were already in this field in your home country. That way you have unique skills you can bring. Because the economy is so weak here, you need to have something special to contribute in order to compete. On the other hand, there are people at TI who were in related but different fields before coming here.

I would say it is always good--and this isn't only true in Germany--to get involved with similar organisations in order to have the skills on your résumé, even if you are just volunteering. Then you have something distinctive to offer, instead of being yet another person interested in international affairs who speaks two languages and wants to work in Germany. I suppose that is why many people at TI started as interns, either in Berlin or in one of the national offices. That may be the price you pay to have a permanent position.

Links:
www.transparency.org

Interview conducted by David Gordon Smith.

4 May 2006

Copyright Expatica 2006

Subject: my expat job, working in Germany, how to find a job in Germany, NGO sector, Transparency International