CYBERSECURITY JOB HUNTING GUIDE
What about studying / work in Germany?
Author: Stefan Waldvogel
Do you want to study, work or immigrate to Germany?
Studying
Let us talk about studying, first. In Germany, getting a degree is free, and many go to Germany and try to get one. German universities had 2019 over 78,000 international students. The paperwork to get a student visa is not that hard, and the system is foreign student-friendly. You need health insurance, money and you have to prove your language skills. If the classes are in English, you need a wanted English certificate. If not, you need German C1 (quite challenging). It is “easy” to get accepted at a university.
The most significant disadvantage is:
It is free, so you cost the university and the taxpayer a lot of money. To keep the system affordable for the taxpayers, technical universities, with their high costs, try everything to eliminate most students during the first two semesters. Students have to take countless challenging exams with a limited amount of retakes, and students do not have unlimited time to finish the university. If you have a student visa, you must pass these exams on time (with a small buffer) to keep your visa alive, and you have to prove it every six months. I went to a private and small university to study electrical engineering, and out of 58, only 7 (12%) got a degree after three years. IT degrees are more manageable because you can practice most things at home, but the wanted math level is the same because you learn the same topics during the first year.
Public and more prominent universities are even more challenging because the classes are huge (hundreds of students), professors do not care about you, and sometimes students have to pass tests every week to go to the following week. Students can fail a small number of these small tests, but if students exceed a number or miss a bigger exam, this was it for a degree in Science. It is not possible to try it again at a different German university and if you want another degree, go into a new and unrelated field like Business.
If you want to study Science in Germany, make sure you know math very well. This part is the biggest filter. Use starter classes and everything possible to brush up on your skills before applying. If you are Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, you do not have so much trouble with it because your math knowledge is high enough or even much higher, but this is the opposite if you are from the US. You want to know the level: https://j3l7h.de/lectures/2021ws/Mathe_1/ThemenUndTermine.html It is in German, but if you understand the math, you are fine. Unlike some other countries, if you study a technical subject, you do not have easy classes like music, art, geography, etc. You study mathematics, English, and highly specialized courses with challenging hands-on labs, and at the end, you have to do a graded six months project work to get your degree. Many Bachelors are taught in German, but most technical Masters are taught in English.
Expected technical knowledge
Compared to the US, a German degree is much, much harder. If you enter a German university, you should have a specific level of knowledge. I never did an IT degree but I assume the expected level is beyond Network+ and Security+. The reason is, to enter the University, most people did at least a 3-year technical apprenticeship before they go for a technical degree. The US system does not have this kind of mandatory internship.
How hard is a German technical class?
Let us take this link: partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCSIA.aspx Here, you can see if you have A+, Net+, Sec+, Project+, CySa+, and Pentest+ you can use these certs to substitute most major classes (US degree in Cybersecurity). Suppose you have all of these certifications in Germany: In that case, this might be not even enough to substitute one course because the expected workload for passing one technical class is higher than all certs together (I studied and took the exams for A+, Net+, Sec+, Server+, PenTest+ between 1 and 3 weeks -> a class in Germany is never that easy).
Working as a foreigner is not so hard in Germany, especially if you have valuable skills. If you have a degree in IT or other wanted areas, you are eligible for special visa programs.
Immigration
Immigration is a different topic and more complex. You have to take mandatory German classes with challenging exams to get an unlimited resident permit, and you need more things. Compared to the US, Australia, or the UK, it is still manageable.
There are over 20 different options to get a resident permit if you are interested. Find your way. Cities like Cologne, Hanover, and Berlin are great places to study. People are open-minded, it is relatively easy to make some German friends, and it is a lot of fun to meet new people. It is hard to say, but if you look foreign (black, Asian, etc.), try to avoid East Germany. In this area, the right-wing is very strong because many people are unemployed and bitter due to historical reasons. I wouldn’t recommend it to move there unless you are white. In cities like Cologne, people do not care about different people because they have everything like Christopher Street parades (gay parade), LGBT festivals, a wide variety of ultra-religious people, hard-core fighters for the environment, and much more.
Let us talk about studying, first. In Germany, getting a degree is free, and many go to Germany and try to get one. German universities had 2019 over 78,000 international students. The paperwork to get a student visa is not that hard, and the system is foreign student-friendly. You need health insurance, money and you have to prove your language skills. If the classes are in English, you need a wanted English certificate. If not, you need German C1 (quite challenging). It is “easy” to get accepted at a university.
The most significant disadvantage is:
It is free, so you cost the university and the taxpayer a lot of money. To keep the system affordable for the taxpayers, technical universities, with their high costs, try everything to eliminate most students during the first two semesters. Students have to take countless challenging exams with a limited amount of retakes, and students do not have unlimited time to finish the university. If you have a student visa, you must pass these exams on time (with a small buffer) to keep your visa alive, and you have to prove it every six months. I went to a private and small university to study electrical engineering, and out of 58, only 7 (12%) got a degree after three years. IT degrees are more manageable because you can practice most things at home, but the wanted math level is the same because you learn the same topics during the first year.
Public and more prominent universities are even more challenging because the classes are huge (hundreds of students), professors do not care about you, and sometimes students have to pass tests every week to go to the following week. Students can fail a small number of these small tests, but if students exceed a number or miss a bigger exam, this was it for a degree in Science. It is not possible to try it again at a different German university and if you want another degree, go into a new and unrelated field like Business.
If you want to study Science in Germany, make sure you know math very well. This part is the biggest filter. Use starter classes and everything possible to brush up on your skills before applying. If you are Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, you do not have so much trouble with it because your math knowledge is high enough or even much higher, but this is the opposite if you are from the US. You want to know the level: https://j3l7h.de/lectures/2021ws/Mathe_1/ThemenUndTermine.html It is in German, but if you understand the math, you are fine. Unlike some other countries, if you study a technical subject, you do not have easy classes like music, art, geography, etc. You study mathematics, English, and highly specialized courses with challenging hands-on labs, and at the end, you have to do a graded six months project work to get your degree. Many Bachelors are taught in German, but most technical Masters are taught in English.
Expected technical knowledge
Compared to the US, a German degree is much, much harder. If you enter a German university, you should have a specific level of knowledge. I never did an IT degree but I assume the expected level is beyond Network+ and Security+. The reason is, to enter the University, most people did at least a 3-year technical apprenticeship before they go for a technical degree. The US system does not have this kind of mandatory internship.
How hard is a German technical class?
Let us take this link: partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCSIA.aspx Here, you can see if you have A+, Net+, Sec+, Project+, CySa+, and Pentest+ you can use these certs to substitute most major classes (US degree in Cybersecurity). Suppose you have all of these certifications in Germany: In that case, this might be not even enough to substitute one course because the expected workload for passing one technical class is higher than all certs together (I studied and took the exams for A+, Net+, Sec+, Server+, PenTest+ between 1 and 3 weeks -> a class in Germany is never that easy).
Working as a foreigner is not so hard in Germany, especially if you have valuable skills. If you have a degree in IT or other wanted areas, you are eligible for special visa programs.
Immigration
Immigration is a different topic and more complex. You have to take mandatory German classes with challenging exams to get an unlimited resident permit, and you need more things. Compared to the US, Australia, or the UK, it is still manageable.
There are over 20 different options to get a resident permit if you are interested. Find your way. Cities like Cologne, Hanover, and Berlin are great places to study. People are open-minded, it is relatively easy to make some German friends, and it is a lot of fun to meet new people. It is hard to say, but if you look foreign (black, Asian, etc.), try to avoid East Germany. In this area, the right-wing is very strong because many people are unemployed and bitter due to historical reasons. I wouldn’t recommend it to move there unless you are white. In cities like Cologne, people do not care about different people because they have everything like Christopher Street parades (gay parade), LGBT festivals, a wide variety of ultra-religious people, hard-core fighters for the environment, and much more.
Summary:
If you prefer to work in a different county, do your homework and investigate all possible ways, the rules, and identify the best and easiest country where you can live your dream. This task is hard work, and nobody will do this job for you. The paperwork often takes a couple of years before you can proceed.
If you prefer to work in a different county, do your homework and investigate all possible ways, the rules, and identify the best and easiest country where you can live your dream. This task is hard work, and nobody will do this job for you. The paperwork often takes a couple of years before you can proceed.
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