Moving to Berlin... Advice?

[Big Mister Music]

Hey Folks.... My housemate and I are considering moving to Berlin this august. To cut long story short we finished uni here (Leeds, UK) two years ago and are looking to make a drastic change in our lifestyle. To do a couple of things really, one of which is inspire some more musical creativity, the other is have the adventure of moving to a new city and country. I (hopefully not foolishly) believe that Berlin would provide a great melting pot of music and art and serve the purpose well.

My main concerns are quite simple really, they center around work and living. We are not concerned with getting high flying jobs; just enough money to live and socialize. Our german is more or less non existent. Though we fully intend to learn ASAP. I keep hearing conflicting views of the situation on the ground. Does anyone have any advice for us on A: getting a job and B: how much might be looking to pay for accommodation in Berlin for a 3 Bed house. We are not looking to live like kings so area is not too important.

Lastly... It would brilliant to get to know some of you english speaking Berliners on here so if we do move over we can meet up for a Beer!

I know this isn't strictly Live related, but one of the main things I am excited about is interacting with the Live community in the place of it's birth.

Thanks so much in advance for any help!

Peace

[8O]

Hi,

I (hopefully not foolishly) believe that Berlin would provide a great melting pot of music and art and serve the purpose well.

Good choice.

...just enough money to live and socialize.

Berlin is easier than most places in Germany and most places in UK for that.

Our german is more or less non existent. Though we fully intend to learn ASAP.

Lots and lots of courses on offer to suit most budgets.

Does anyone have any advice for us on A: getting a job

Depends what kind of work you're looking for. Unemployment is really quite high at the moment. Last summer it was 15% and I'm sure it's much, much higher right now. I'd recommend trying to make as many contacts as you can in the field you're looking for *before* moving over here e.g. there's lots of English speaking people working in tourism, e.g. as tour guides. Unless you're looking for manual labour type jobs, then building up a network of contacts is probably the best way...

and B: how much might be looking to pay for accommodation in Berlin for a 3 Bed house. We are not looking to live like kings so area is not too important.

Accommodation is relatively cheap. You're probably looking at a flat not a house. And flats come unfurnished with often not even a lightbulb installed. Cheapest option is to flat-share with others as then you'll at least get a furnished kitchen and living room and hopefully a German-speaking flat-mate (free tuition!). Flat-shares are abbreviated as WG in listings and majority of listings are on the internet. Never tried is myself, but apparently you can find stuff on craigslist (http://berlin.en.craigslist.org/).

Lastly... It would brilliant to get to know some of you english speaking Berliners on here so if we do move over we can meet up for a Beer!

[Big Mister Music]

Thanks very much for your reply, greatly appreciated.

[SubFunk]

What he said, if you need contact to an english speaking berliner PM me

[nicky_bass]

Ditto the above.

I realise this is a little late, but if you're still looking for somewhere, also consider a sub-let.
That way you get a fully furnished gaff, but the flip side is it'll be short-ish term.

We've been sorted on this forum before: http://www.toytowngermany.com

[Aeroplay]

I'm planning to move to Berlin as well maybe september? I don't really know yet...

Can't wait for making music with all you crazy music-making people


all the best

[8O]

^ cool, you'll be in good time for this -> http://www.myspace.com/laptopbattleberlin

[Yeeeehaaaa7]

I'm also in a similar boat.

Wanting to move to Berlin as soon as I can but the employment thing seems to be an issue.

Any suggestions on sites where I can start looking for employment?

I'm on toytowngermany already.

Cheers,
Kenny

[8O]

Any suggestions on sites where I can start looking for employment?

I dunno, what do you do?

[UL]

Yes, Enjoy your time you lucky SOB, hopefully you can get a job with ableton (based in Berlin)

[Yeeeehaaaa7]

Any suggestions on sites where I can start looking for employment?

I dunno, what do you do?

Quality Assurance/Control Manager within the sales/customer service channel with a major Utilities company just now

[8O]

Any suggestions on sites where I can start looking for employment?

I dunno, what do you do?

Quality Assurance/Control Manager within the sales/customer service channel with a major Utilities company just now

It'll be a bit tougher than some other Germany cities, but there are definitely jobs here. Be prepared to earn less money than Munich, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, etc, for the equivalent job. Usual search channels: online is good, I've found the newspapers to be pretty poor, but the arbeitsamt surprisingly good also for "akademiker" jobs. If you don't speak German already, then learn now, it'll increase your chances massively, even for jobs where the day to day work is in English...

[Yeeeehaaaa7]

It'll be a bit tougher than some other Germany cities, but there are definitely jobs here. Be prepared to earn less money than Munich, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, etc, for the equivalent job. Usual search channels: online is good, I've found the newspapers to be pretty poor, but the arbeitsamt surprisingly good also for "akademiker" jobs. If you don't speak German already, then learn now, it'll increase your chances massively, even for jobs where the day to day work is in English...

Thanks for that. Any particular sites?

The pay thing isn't a massive deal really, just want to get to Berlin as soon as possible. I'm going over on 11-13th November to have a look at flats etc.

Where I work just now I'm fortunate enough to have quite a few native German speakers who are helping me with the basics just now

[8O]

Thanks for that. Any particular sites?

Usual suspects are monster.de and jobscout24. I've used jobserve.com for finding contract work from multinational agencies for German placements - was good for technology field, dunno about your field. And finally, XING is getting more and more use in Germany for quick networking specifically to get jobs.

[Yeeeehaaaa7]

Thanks for that. Any particular sites?

Usual suspects are monster.de and jobscout24. I've used jobserve.com for finding contract work from multinational agencies for German placements - was good for technology field, dunno about your field. And finally, XING is getting more and more use in Germany for quick networking specifically to get jobs.

nice one, thanks bud!