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In a recent blog post, I focused on the ways that highly selective colleges and universities go about choosing the students who receive offers of admission. My starting point was a reexamination of Jacques Steinberg’s wonderful book, The Gatekeepers, written a decade ago, and whether it still accurately portrays the process of applying to highly selective schools today. For those not familiar with the book, Steinberg uses the individual stories of applicants to Wesleyan. He provides compelling narratives of their lives, stresses and ultimately outcomes when applying to Wesleyan and other schools. He also follows one particular admission office and one particular admission officer, Ralph Figueroa, as he travels across the country to recruit students at schools, interacts with students and college counselors, and then sets down to the hard task of making decisions. It is compelling reading. We get caught up in the each student’s story and we see how Ralph and his fellow admission officers go about making many difficult decisions. Of the many books written about admission, this is one of the best. I described some of the significant changes in admission since the book was written, but I missed a few.One of the great things about the education community is how often people reach out to help one another by sharing their experiences and expertise. Several wonderful people, on the college side and those who serve as counselors for students, have suggested that I update my overview to include several issues that have been the subject of many recent stories over the past several weeks. Over the next several weeks I will be doing just that, but here is one that has a lot of sides to it.***********************************************************************Test Optional SchoolsA counselor pointed out after reading my post that provided average SAT scores for Harvard and Wesleyan, that Wesleyan has recently joined the over 800 hundred colleges and universities that no longer require students to submit standardized test scores. more and more schools are giving students the choice about whether to submit standardized test scores as a part of their applications. Recently, another prestigious school, Bryn Mawr, joined the test optional group. It seems that every week another school makes this decision. Why are schools doing this and what does it mean for students?I will start to answer these questions by looking again at Wesleyan since that school was the focus of The Gatekeepers. Although the book focuses specifically on the admission process at Wesleyan, it still well serves as a representative of what goes on in the holistic evaluation that any highly selective college or university employs to meet their institution goals and needs. Here is the average test SAT score for Wesleyan’s entering class: 2100. Obviously, scores like this are quite high. Anyone looking at them might be either impressed or possibly intimidated or may be a bit of both. Why would a school that enrolls such great testers move away from requiring all students to submit scores? Here is what they say on their website about their decision to go test optional:Why did Wesleyan decide to become standardized test-optional in the admission process?Research released in February 2014 (Hiss and Franks ) and the upcoming revisions of the SAT and ACT prompted the change beginning for those who file applications for matriculation in 2015. We are unconvinced that standardized test scores accurately reflect college potential for all students, and believe that test scores unfairly advantage some applicants. Individualism and student choice are core values at the university; this policy extends that choice to applicants.Wesleyan states it has moved to test optional because of the changes that are forthcoming to both the SAT and the ACT. For some this might sound like a wise move, as they can then do research on the new tests to see how well they predict academic success. Defenders of the tests might point out that the SAT in particular will be tied to what students are expected to learn in the newly implemented Common Core standards and therefore will serve as added confirmation of what students have learned. As with virtually anything that has to do with standardized testing, in general, and more importantly, as a factor in admission decisions, there are very strong views on how much the tests should or should not be used.[i]I will apply to the rest of Wesleyan’s textual justification what literary critics call a close reading. I want to examine the underlying meaning of this particular sentence: “We are unconvinced that standardized test scores accurately reflect college potential for all students, and believe that test scores unfairly advantage some applicants.” This compound sentence, although seemingly transparent, compresses and elides over some of the biggest issues in admission today. On the surface, it might seem that Wesleyan dismisses the value of standardized tests altogether. They aren’t. If they did, then the sentence would simply have read: “We are unconvinced that standardized test scores accurately reflect college potential.” If the sentence was written this way, then Wesleyan would clearly would be a part of the educational community that thinks standardized tests are one of the biggest problems in education today.[ii] The phrase that follows, however, “for all students”, is ambiguous. If Wesleyan believed that testing is not useful at all, then this phrase is redundant and should be edited out. But I don’t think that Wesleyan has come to the conclusion that testing does not predict well for at least some groups of students. In other words, the way the sentence reads it indicates there are some students for whom testing is a useful predictor and who should, if they hope to receive an offer of admission, take the tests and submit the scores. The question then becomes who are these students for whom testing might be useful to Wesleyan? The answer comes in the second half of the sentence: “and believe that test scores unfairly advantage some applicants.” It may not be immediately clear how those who have an unfair advantage in doing well on tests should also be the ones that submit test scores, so let me try to supply the missing connection.There have been many stories lately about how test scores favor those who come from the high end of the income scale. The data on test scores by family income demonstrates that those who are in the upper middle class or above have higher test scores, in the aggregate, than those who are low or middle income. Some go as far as to say that standardized tests are nothing more than a substitute for family Page on income.it is true that some students grow up in families that can pay for test prep, private tutors, summer enrichment programs and can, in addition, pay for private education or at least live in an area in which the public schools are filled with other high achieving students and programs that emphasize academic excellence (many AP course offerings or the IB diploma, for example.) Students who have these advantages, not surprisingly, often do well on tests and this seems to be what is unfair. If Wesleyan (and other schools and educators) believe that these students have received an unfair advantage then should they not take the tests? I think the opposite it true: those who have these unfair advantages—and, this is a very important part of what I am asserting here--who are applying to the most selective schools are exactly the ones who should take the tests and submit their scores. Why?Because if they don’t those reading applications may assume that the scores are not close to the mean scores. If a student with all the unfair advantages cannot do well on the tests, then this might well mean they won’t necessarily be the best academic students that the school could enroll. The most elite schools have such deep applicant pools that they often turn down students with exceptional testing. Therefore, any student who is not in a special category and who has had the opportunity to go to a great secondary school, take great courses, and have the chance to do test prep etc. should submit scores to the most elite schools If not, then there will be many other strong applicants who have similar backgrounds who have high scores who will stand out ahead of them. Of course, there are exceptions, but most of these will fall under a special category. There may be a legacy whose parents have been big donors whose scores are not great, but who the school would still like to admit. The same will hold true for athletes and others who may have an exceptional talent the school is looking for. Or they may be a part of a group the school wishes to target—under-represented minorities in articular. But most applicants at the high-income end do not fall into these special categories.Another way of looking at this issue is to restate what Wesleyan has written, but to change one word to make it clear what they are saying from the other side: “and believe that test scores unfairly DISadvantage (my emphasis) some applicants.” If some students are unfairly advantaged, the corollary should also be true. If my syllogistic logic is accurate, then the question now is who are those students who are disadvantaged in the process? I have already stated that first generation, and low-income students, in the aggregate, score lower than those not in these categories. In addition, under-represented students score far lower than whites and Asians. Wesleyan, and a number of other highly selective schools, are committed to enrolling a diverse class. For those students who are part of the groups just mentioned they may benefit from not submitting scores if they are below the mean of accepted students. Wesleyan and other schools do not wish to say this directly however, as it raises issues of fairness in a quite different way. If, for example, a student who is the member of an under-represented group, but still has the upper middle class background and support of good schools and a stable family, has scores that are lower than those of most whites and Asians, the school may still choose to admit him or her. If racial diversity is an institutional priority (and it is at every elite school), then it may be that some of these students will be given more leeway when it comes to testing especially if there are no test scores to compare them to.Having students who the school wishes to admit not submit testing accomplishes three things that help the school to fulfill its self-defined institutional mission. First of all, the school can now do additional outreach to underserved communities in hopes of finding students who have “grit”. Grit is something that has received a lot of press over the last couple of years and is largely the brainchild of Penn Prof Angela Lee Duckworth. Grit means a student has the drive to succeed even if the circumstances in which she lives may be anything but great. Grit kids work hard and overcome adversity. Many grit kids don’t have top scores but they have what it takes to do well at virtually any college or university. Schools like Wesleyan want more of these kinds of students and telling a group of them in a rural high school or an inner city school that they don’t have to submit testing may encourage them to apply. They won’t look at the mean scores and simply say, “I have no chance”.Just last week Harvard’s application numbers were released and they shot up 8%. The Dean, William Fitzsimmons, thinks that their efforts to travel to many places where grit kids live has helped them diversity their applicant pool. (I mentioned this on my previous post, that while Harvard does require testing for all applicants, it does not post the average scores on its academic profile of the admission webpage). Since elite schools have received withering criticism by some educators for being bastions for elite rich kids, going out and visiting schools and holding special programs for grit kids is one way of demonstrating they care about low income students and care about racial diversity too.If Wesleyan and Harvard and other elite school downplay or waive testing to get the students to apply, the next step for them to achieve their institutional needs is to admit them, recruit them and enroll more of these students. Harvard can afford to do this, literally and figuratively. They received an additional $125,000,000 last year to put toward financial aid. They already have a huge fund set aside for aid but this gift makes them able to pay for as many low-income students as they admit and who choose to enroll. As a result, expect them to have a higher percentage of grit kids in the coming years. Wesleyan and some other elite schools, will likely admit more students who may not have great testing but who will add to the mix of the class, but they have to stop at some point because of the costs involved. The $60,000 price tag is staggering and it does not take many full need students to begin to drain the coffers of the financial aid office. Many elite schools are now need aware and even some of those who say they aren’t still look to get low income students who may also be members so of under-represented groups (this is not something they can say of course). The advantage of bringing in and under-represented grit student is that the school gets two for one. They will get a boost in the enrollment of students who are both low income and racially diverse. Those who are white or Asian and poor may not receive quite as much push if the ability to pay is an issue. (I cannot prove what I have just written, as to do so would mean that schools would have to release data that only a court order could get. I could well be wrong about this at many schools, but I know that this does happen at a few.)The last thing that getting rid of mandatory testing will do will is to help improve the school’s academic profile. If the schools no longer have low testers submitting scores, but who are still getting in, when the time comes for them to report their average scores to the US News the average scores will actually rise. Taking out the low testers will mean scores for the overall incoming class will make the school look even better in the methodology of the US News. To sum up: schools going test optional will benefit the schools themselves and some groups of students. Schools get a more diverse class and they get to report even higher testing averages. If what I have said is accurate, then I would expect other schools at the top to begin going test optional too. There may be a day in the not too distant future when almost all schools will be test optional.A recent survey of private colleges that have gone test-optional backs up some of what I have just written:Andrew Belasco, CEO of College Transitions, a college consulting firm in Athens, Ga., conducted the recently published study that looked at 180 selective private schools including 32 that have test-optional policies. Overall, Belasco says, the main beneficiaries of the test-optional policy could be the private colleges themselves.A peak into test-optional policiesWhen schools become test-optional, it encourages more students who might have previously considered their chances of admission to be weak, to apply. More applications can lead to higher admission rejection rates, which make schools look more selective. At the same time, the published test scores of individual colleges could rise because freshmen with lower scores never submit them.Our findings suggest that test-optional admissions policies, as a whole, have done little to meet their manifest goals of expanding educational opportunity for low-income and minority students. However, we find evidence that test-optional policies fulfill a latent function of increasing the perceived selectivity and status of these institutions. In doing so, these policies may serve to reproduce and maintain the current social structure -- and its inequalities -- within U.S. higher education.**********************************************************************For some, the move toward more and more schools going test optional is a cause for celebration.[iii] This includes both the schools that benefit from having higher average scores but also those groups who may not have applied and may not have been admitted because of their scores. But before everyone who thinks testing is not useful and who do not have great scores decides not to submit them let me reemphasize an important point. I have tried to prove, there are some students, those unfairly advantaged, for whom test optional is not really an option should they hope to be admitted to the most selective schools. Those who are “unfairly advantaged” by testing may find that it will take even higher scores. If this turns out to be accurate then parents who have the money will use it to hire more tutors, private counselors and test prep experts than ever. The stress among students whose goals include the most elite schools will increase and so will the demands on students to do more in order to stand out. Where this might end is anyone’s guess, but for those who have economic means and children about to enter into middle school or high school and who have very bright kids with high aspirations, get ready for some tough years ahead if getting in to a top school is what you dream about for your children.If I have just depressed a number of parents and educators with what I have written, let me try to add something that might make at least those who can pay full fees feel better. In the ice cited above about who benefits from testing optional policies there is another whole side to the issue:Tony Bankston, dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan University and a skeptic of test-optional policies, believes some of the main beneficiaries of the no-test admission route are likely affluent and wealthy students."Everybody is struggling with enrollment, and colleges are looking more and more for students who have the ability to pay a substantial portion of college," Bankston observed. Test-optional policies open the door to take wealthy students who would have been borderline applicants. "I think a lot of this is going on behind the scenes," he suggested.If what Mr. Bankston says seems to refute much of what I have written, that is because it does. But does that mean people should dismiss what I have written or side with me against Mr. Bankston’s assertions? As is so often the case with college admission, any attempt to generalize about a huge group of schools often leads people to assume things that are only partially accurate. Context is, if not everything, it is at least important enough to note that the variables that go into individual schools’ institutional priorities differ sufficiently to undermine virtually any overarching opinion on an issue. In this particular case Mr. Bankston asserts, “Everybody is struggling with enrollment” I agree, but it is necessary to distinguish the way highly selective and well funded schools struggle with enrollment from the way nearly all the other schools do. The schools that accept under 20% of their applicants have to decide which of the chosen few will make the greatest contribution to the life of the school. They spend untold hours trying to pick the best among an exceptional applicant pool. These schools also tend to be the ones that can offer admission to as many low-income students as the school feels have earned a spot. The number of schools that fall into this category are very small but they are the ones who garner the most media coverage and the most attention from parents and students. But to reemphasize what I have already said, students who are unfairly advantaged because they come for the high end of the economic spectrum should submit scores to these schools for the reasons I have outlined above.The schools that Mr. Bankston points to in his quote are not, however, these schools. The ones he is talking about are the majority of other colleges and universities that are struggling to fill their classes, especially with students who can pay full fees. There are hundreds if not thousands of schools that fall into this category. There simply are not enough students who come from families who can afford to pay the $60,000 a year it takes to pay for private education at many places now. There are many who cannot afford to pay the in state fees of their State institutions either, despite significantly lower costs. One reason that the U Cal schools have increased their out of state and international students percentages so dramatically over the past decade is that these students pay full fees that match the cost of private colleges and universities. Budget cuts from the State governments have forced some State schools to bring in more full payers into the mix. Schools like this have to approach the admission process far differently than the ones at the top of the US News. Many of these schools, both public and private, are, at the very least, need-aware when making admission decisions. The ability to pay has become an increasingly important part of the admission decision for these schools. Given this, Mr. Bankston is giving good information to those students whose scores are low but who can pay. These students should not submit scores in most cases. If these are the two ends of the spectrum when it comes to advice about full payers with low scores submitting them, there is one more category that falls in between the extremes and this is where advice about submitting scores should be interpreted as a best guess rather than anything definitive.Somewhere just outside of the most elite schools there are a group of highly selective schools that are also, at some level (and this differs from school to school), need aware. In other words, they have far more applications from qualified students than they need to fill their classes but they do not have the money to admit all the students who might qualify academically but do not have the money. In a few cases the schools read application through the first round of evaluation without looking at the ability to pay, but after that, when the data comes in, they may end up cutting out some students who do not have the ability to pay. So they both are and are not need aware, depending at what point they are in the overall admission process. If this is true when it comes to money it is harder to tell whether those who submit scores that are low but are full payers (unfairly advantaged) might be looked at a little bit better or a little bit worse than those who may have as good but better overall academic credentials.If I had to guess (and I do have to guess as I do not know what goes on behind the closed doors of colleges and universities), I would say that some admission readers and some schools will potentially mark down an unfairly advantaged student who does not submit scores and some will not. I am not trying to dodge the issue, but I think there will be different “right” answers depending on the school and in some cases individual readers within a school. If schools would release data on who was admitted without submitting scores and whether they were low income or under-represented students or not this would certainly help student, educators and families get a sense of that particular school’s priorities and approach to these issues. But it would not help the schools themselves, since to do so would raise a lot of tough questions. Don’t expect this information to be forthcoming anytime soon. What is a bit frustrating is that it is exactly these schools, the ones that great students have a realistic chance of getting in, that are approaching these issues in ways that make it hard for those on the outside to know what the best approach to submitting testing (and some other issues too) should be.Rather than end on this less than happy note let me state again what is far more important about students applying to colleges and universities. There are spaces for everyone at schools all over the country. Some may not have famous names but schools are looking for students who can add their intellect, talent and grit to their campuses. It is not the name of the school that matters to a child’s education; it is how they do at a school that fits. I have written about this many times and it is not just an opinion, it is backed up by a lot a great data. If parents and students step away from the Olympic level competition to get into elite schools and concentrate on learning and developing passions at the school they get in and that fits them well, then the whole way of looking at enrolling in schools might improve for everyone at every end of the economic spectrum. I don’t expect that the way many look at the college application process will change, but I can say that on virtually every forum I visit that consists of educators, the mantra about fit instead of name and rank is what everyone agrees should be the focus for students and families. Maybe if enough of us keep saying this again and again the race to the top won’t get even more competitive. Maybe, but not likely. We are wired for competition and the media makes so much of ranking and names that it is hard to escape the frenzy. Even if there were a marginal change in the approach, however, this would improve the lives of lots of individuals who choose to follow the less stressful and possibly more successful path to preparing oneself for a bright future.*******************************************************************[i] I would highly recommend readers to go to the website cited. Bill Hiss, one of the authors, has been at Bates College for many years and he was one of the first to push his school to go test optional. The paper has a lot of data to support the view that standardized testing is not the best measure of academic success.[ii] One group in particular, Fair Test, has been fighting the battle against testing for many years. One of the main things they see is that testing is an instance of the tail wagging the dog. Schools want to enroll high testers, as it is one of the factors that is a part of US News rankings. Given this, the emphasis on testing has taken on, according to Fair Test and many other others, a disproportionate place in evaluating students for what is supposed to be a holistic approach. A glance at the average scores at places the top 50 schools provides some support for this belief. For some of these schools most students who do not have at least 700 on each of the subscores on the SAT are not likely to get in. No school will come out and say they have cut offs because they in fact don’t, but for some students who are members of certain groups, high testing is not just expected but pretty much required.[iii] In her new book, The Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America, Lani Guinier takes about as strong a stance against testing and the current way students are accepted to highly selective colleges and universities as anyone currently writing on this issue.In an interview with Inside Higher Ed she gives her solution:"We can alter how we think about merit, from something a child is born with to something that she (and/or we) can help cultivate. We can shift from prioritizing individualized testing to group collaboration among all stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers and administrators. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be easy, as the entire undergirding of our educational system rests upon notions of individual achievement and the promotion of competition. But somehow we must shift from promoting testocratic merit, which has produced dubious results, to developing democratic merit, because the latter is the foundation upon which our national values truly ought to rest.Current admissions systems are based on tests, rankings and prestige -- in ways that undermine American democracy."Ms. Guinier, a high profile public figure and a prof at Harvard, suggests that testing undermines democracy. She is for getting rid of testing and essentially recreating education from the ground up by emphasizing collaborative learning instead of competition. Should her efforts succeed then make up of students at what were once highly selective schools would be far different than what it is it is today.At the other end of the spectrum, is Joel Klein. As chancellor of the New York City School system he implemented many changes, led the way for charter schools and for instilling learning based in part on what is now the common core and from ideas put forth a generation ago E.D. Hirsch in his Cultural Literacy approach to education. He is all for tests and he was a figure who was savaged in the media. At least one of his former teachers disagrees with the teachers unions and others. He basis much of his praise on data that seems to demonstrate that his small schools, his emphasis on accountability and his belief in testing helps prepare even students from the lowest economic levels a chance at a better future:"A documentary, Waiting for Superman, compellingly portrayed charter schools as beacons of civil rights and equality, opposed by unions for reasons of self-interest and ignorance… Dana Goldstein, an education journalist whose recent book, The Teacher Wars, is generally sympathetic to the unions, told me that she credits Klein with “presiding over an era of increasing optimism and higher expectations for public schools in New York City. His reforms brought new talent into the system at every level, from classroom teachers to the top of the bureaucracy.”The testing wars will continue even if schools all go test optional. I have no doubt that many more colleges and universities will be going test optional in the near future. Whether this will produce better students or better educational outcomes is something that will be the subject of competing opinions and data.

Contrasting ‘orchastra’ make-up with ‘coders’ is not a good plan, as the make-up even at the elementary school level in the school band is much more inclusive of ‘girls’ than what one sees in the same school’s STEM courses. Equality of Outcome is what you wish to appear as representative, thus regarding females: 50% ‘balanced,’ when the reality is ‘skill sets’ determine the ‘hiring’ and the hierarchy in the work place of successful companies. But not all corporate america is successful.Coders, at the high school level and college level are already MARKEDLY under represented by females. Look in the window of any California High School Physics class, or Calculus class and you’ll see prescious few females. Look in the Foreign language courses, and there they are!I’ve witnessed University departments (professors) bend over backwards to increase female and black minorities in their majors, sometimes with sad consequences. I’ve seen High School swim teams BRIBE blacks to join the ‘team,’ only to see them swim at a 45 degree angle doing the crawl, because they have no boyant fat distribution to help them out.A female graduating UCLA in Physics for instance with a terrible GPA will not ‘transfer’ well into the workforce, as her transcript will be requested, or her GPA asked for (and checked). Also, she holds herself in ‘low’ esteem for her crappy performance- even though her self assesment could be vastly misplaced.Jordan Peterson addressed this, please review his views if this is news to you: [1][1][1][1]Peterson misses that there are two variants of “equality of opportunity.” There’s a soft one, which merely means a society where people can rise and fall according to their hard work and talent; and there’s a hard variant which says that people’s positions in life should only be determined by their hard work and talent, and that other factors which could influence success should be controlled for, eliminated, or compensated for inorder to equalize the ‘appearance’ of equality of outcome. The latter is injuring large tech companies and public institutions (schools) in many circumstances. In pharmaceutical companies, and tech companies there are ‘pseudo’ heads of departments that allow the firm the ‘checking-off’ the minority representation, and posing artifically the companies efforts towards balance. I’ve seen this at Intel, as well as Genentech (Hoffman La Roche). Their ‘goals’ are noble, but the results ring hollow. The impact upon those that suffer this corporate behavior (puting un-talented females quickly in managerial positions for instance), where actual ‘talent’ is bypassed,simply shrug their shoulders, or put their resume out there. For some minorities, such as at Intel, when they notice the finders fee for a female or Black PhD is $7k, while for an Asian is only $2K, they correctly identify the policy as both discriminatory and racist.A free society will never deliver exactly equal opportunities. But trying to correct for this offers up a particularly intrusive form of government, which can at times be more totalitarian than one simply seeking to equalise income or wealth. A society fiercely committed to “equality of opportunity” at all costs is one where the role of family, friends, and civil society groups may be severely curtailed. Apple Computer offers their female employees the feature of ‘covered’ medical insurance for preserving their eggs; so they can, AFTER the age of 40 include pregancy and motherhood into their 60’s of they wish. Apple REALLY WANTS the females to ‘hang around.’In a market economy, how much we earn is determined by the interaction of supply and demand, a meritocracy requires someone to make value judgments on what outcomes reflect individual initiative and what opportunities are “fair” or “unfair”. If enforced through the state, it makes the government itself the main arbiter of whether an outcome is just and reflective of fair application of our talents and work ethic.Right now our plights are determined in large part by these factors but also by upbringing, circumstance and luck, and the absurd corporate evaluations reflected in the evidence of equality of outcomes. Those that are born White, and Male are at the bottom of the ‘desireable’ rung from an Human Resources point of view, right below asians. And the popular Liberal Journalists (LibJo’s) are ‘all in’ on supporting the direction, even towards supporting ‘minority’ anger and mis-directs as being a ‘positive’ direction.Footnotes[1] Jordan Peterson on why equality of outcome is an IMPOSSIBLE goal & TERRIBLE idea[1] Jordan Peterson on why equality of outcome is an IMPOSSIBLE goal & TERRIBLE idea[1] Jordan Peterson on why equality of outcome is an IMPOSSIBLE goal & TERRIBLE idea[1] Jordan Peterson on why equality of outcome is an IMPOSSIBLE goal & TERRIBLE idea

For non-EU/EEA nationals, before commencing your job search, you need to understand the visa requirements to stay in Germany for work or career reasons.If you study in Germany, have a degree from a German university and can speak German to B2 level, you will stand a very good chance of finding work. Indeed, if you graduate from a German university, you’re allowed to stay and seek work after graduation for up to 18 months. More on that later….Finding a Job and Working in GermanyWith various generous options to obtain residency, it's not a complicated process if you tick the right boxes. Germany is addressing a clear need with its visa requirements specifically seeking to attract professional and qualified migrants who can provide the skills necessary to contribute to an advanced, industrial society.Consequently, to be successful you will need to:be educated to degree level OR possess a formal vocational training in a recognised trade.ideally speak German to a higher intermediate (B2) level (Although this is not strictly a must-have, it will 10x your chances of finding a job).Or:be able to convincingly prove that you can run and sustain your own small business or gain sufficient revenue through selling your services as a freelancer.Let’s take a closer look at the different possibilities the German government offers for those seeking to live and work in Germany.EU Blue CardThe Blue Card, aimed at highly qualified professionals, offers a fast track route to permanent residency for those who tick the necessary boxes.In Germany, the visa requirements for the EU Blue Card are as follows:Be qualified to degree level (minimum bachelors).Have either a job offer or a signed employment contract in your field of study, conditional upon being granted a work permit.A salary of at least €53,600 (in 2019).This is relaxed to a minimum of €41,808 (in 2019) for professions where there are recognised worker shortages, such as IT professionals, scientists, doctors, mathematicians and engineers.However, this requires prior approval by the German Federal Employment Agency before a Blue Card is granted under these circumstances.The benefit of a Blue Card is that after 33 months you are granted permanent residency (subject to a number of additional criteria being met). This shortens to 21 months if you can prove that you speak German to B1 level. Don‘t confuse this with citizenship, which carries a whole different set of criteria and typically can only be applied for after 8 years (with some exceptions).If you don’t meet these pretty stringent requirements, don’t worry. There are other options available to you, as we explain below.Standard Residence Permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis)If you don’t fulfil the criteria necessary for a Blue Card, you can still obtain a residence visa which allows you to work in Germany. The standard conditions will then apply, as they would for any third country national applying for residence in Germany for employment reasons.Different qualifying criteria apply for this permit compared to the Blue Card, depending on the job you will be doing and the varying scarcity of eligible workers to fill the role.Typically, if you have a university degree, then the first route available would be the Blue Card. But what if the job you’re being offered doesn’t meet the salary requirements necessary to qualify? For these cases, the process below is the route you would follow. Where the Blue Card is not an option, the employer must in the majority of cases attempt to hire a German or EU/EEA citizen.However, not all professions are treated equally. Twice a year, the German Federal Agency for Employment (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) publishes their Whitelist of occupations in which there are severe worker shortages.Employers seeking to hire qualified third country national applicants for these occupations do not have to first show that they have attempted to hire an EU national. Instead, the employer can offer the position to a non-EU national without having the Federal Agency for Employment checking the application. This means the whole end-to-end process is somewhat faster because it eliminates this step.Job Offer as a Prerequisite?For both the EU Blue Card and the Standard Residence Permit, you need to have a job offer before you can apply for and be granted these permits. So, how do you find a job, you’re probably asking? A good place to start is the jobs page, where you can search directly through the Live Work Germany website.We’ll get to some of the other great places to look further down the article. Before you do though, let’s have a look at how realistic your chances are of finding work in Germany. We created a short quiz which you can download for FREE to give you some honest feedback on how attractive you are to potential German employers.Freelancer / Self Employment VisaPerhaps you’re not so keen on finding a job in the regular German economy and instead you’d like to work as a freelancer or start your own business? To obtain a residence visa (Aufenthaltstitel) by this means, you normally have to apply from your home country. However, if you’re legally resident in Germany on a student visa then you can apply from within Germany.You are typically required to supply the following documents as part of your residence application to be self-employed or a freelancer:Business planProof of income already gained in this capacityClient referencesPortfolio of workEvidence of prior experienceProof of funds to independently support yourselfLetters of intent from German companies who express an interest in contracting your servicesFor a more detailed explanation, and interactive coaching on exactly which bases you’ll need to cover in the documentation you submit, you can apply for an online course.But I don’t have a job offer and I’m not self-employed…Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce…The Job Seeker VisaUnlike the EU Blue Card or a Standard Residence Permit, which are both issued on the condition of you being offered employment, the Job Seeker Visa allows a candidate to enter and reside in Germany for 6 months without a job secured, for the very purpose of looking for work.To apply for a Job Seeker Visa, the candidate must present evidence of the following as part of their application:Valid passport and biometric photosNecessary funds to cover their 6 month stay in GermanyWork experience in their field of study (standard is 5 years but this can vary).Bachelor’s degree certificate (or greater)CVCover letter outlining your reasons for applying for the visaEvidence of travel health insurance which covers an extended 6 month stay in GermanyJob Seeking for Graduates of German UniversitiesFor graduates of German universities, you’re allowed to extend your residence in Germany for a period of up to 18 months after graduation, for the purpose of seeking employment.The process is relatively straightforward:The work you’re seeking must be relevant to your studies (which I guess in most cases it will be)You must have the available funds to support yourself during this time, or have somebody who can act as a guarantor.Along with your passport, you will need to show:your degree certificate (or a document from your faculty office stating you have successfully completed your studies, if your degree certificate hasn’t been issued yet)proof of ongoing health insurance cover to convert your student visa into a residence permit for seeking employment.Unlike the Job Seeker Visa, on this residence permit you’re also permitted to work in any job you wish in order to support yourself, while you seek relevant employment to your field of study.Finding English Speaking JobsThe good news is that YES, it IS POSSIBLE to find English speaking jobs in Germany.The not-so-good-news is that your chances of finding an English-speaking position are highly dependent on a number of critical factors. It’s important you understand your realistic chances of finding work, before you spend valuable time and energy chasing after a unicorn.Germany isn’t Dubai or Singapore…My best advice would be to approach this pragmatically and evaluate your present situation based on the factors and tips below. This will enable you to look at what other areas may be worth exploring to improve your chances of success.There is certainly no shortage of English-speaking HR Managers, or Digital Marketing Executives, or Sales Professionals. However, look towards the STEM-related professions (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), and the situation is very different.Here, German language fluency is often less important and these professions are also where there tend to be more worker shortages of suitably qualified candidates. Looking for opportunities “off the beaten track” is also more likely to net you success than applying to well-known companies which openly have a policy of hiring in English.Don’t chase what everyone else is chasing.(For the guys remember what it was like trying to catch the attention of the most popular girl at school!)You need to be more creative, strategic and cunning to bag that perfect job in a competitive market. So think about it:What do you bring to the table?How are you unique?Why should an employer hire you?Your Employment Depends on…The Seniority Of The Position This is arguably the most critical factor. The rule of thumb is: The more senior the role, the less important it is to be fluent in German, especially in multinational, foreign-owned companies.The Role And The Industry Some industries and job types are by nature less dependent upon language skills. You’re less likely to need fluent German if you work as a programmer or software engineer than if you work in a client or customer-facing role such as Sales & Marketing or Project Management, dealing primarily with German-speaking clients.it goes without saying that any position requiring communication skills or interaction with clients, customers, and external suppliers is going to be trickier if you don’t speak the native language.The Size Of The Company Larger multinationals are more likely to adopt English as the international language of business. This not only applies to foreign corporations but also some larger German firms too.Medium sized, family owned businesses are much less likely to offer jobs in English, although ironically, these are the very companies that are most struggling with a skills gap for essential vacancies.Your Experience Perhaps I’m stating the obvious here, but it’s going to be easier for an experienced candidate to bag an English speaking job than a fresh university graduate.There are way more candidates than there are well paid English speaking roles. English speaking jobs in Germany are in high demand because there are plenty of well-educated international jobseekers seeking work in Germany who don’t (yet) speak fluent German.Your Network is your Net Worth. Everyone has a valuable network of contacts, even if they don’t realise it.Look further than your “obvious” contacts - Who else do you know who could help you?Maybe they know someone who knows someone who can hook you up.Your former university professor or tutor, Fellow alumni who may have contacts in GermanyFriends / relatives of your partnerAny German friends or followers you may have on social media, Your German language tandem partnerI can’t stress this enough. Your network is your NET WORTH. The LinkedIn search function is your friend here. Use it to identify headhunters in your profession or i ndustry. Spend 30 minutes or so typing in different keywords into the search, for example “pharmaceutical jobs Frankfurt”. You will soon get an idea of who is in the game and which positions are advertised in English.Spend time each day on LinkedIn to grow your professional network. Look at new contacts’ profiles and contacts to see if anyone there is also worth reaching out to. It takes time and effort but it pays off. Not all open job positions are advertised.Finding A Job in Germany – Useful Sites for ExpatsSo we’ve explained the “how?”, and now we’re going to explore “where exactly?”!LinkedInLinkedIn is a useful tool in Germany because it also has a strong, domestic competitor called Xing.What this means, in practical terms for the non-German speaking job seeker, is that LinkedIn jobs tend to be more scaled towards larger, international companies (although this is by no means a hard and fast rule), whereas Xing is more geared towards medium-sized, German speaking companies.LinkedIn is at its most powerful as a tool for connecting with headhunters, some of whom will be recruiting for English speaking jobs in Germany. You just have to build up a presence and increase your number of connections to link in with them (see what I did there?).Treat your presence on LinkedIn a bit like building up a following on any other social media platform. If you want to build influence, invest time into regularly updating your profile, having a professional photo, writing blog posts on LinkedIn on topics relevant to your professional career, and cultivating your network.Generic German Job Search SitesNow, while the offerings on these sites are overwhelmingly aimed at Germans, it is worth panning for gold here. Not everyone will bother to look on these sites, so you could gain an advantage over your fellow jobseekers.Remember my advice from the previous post? True, only around 5% of the job advertisements posted here will be in English but it doesn’t take a great deal of effort to sift through the ones that aren’t, right?The major job search sites in Germany are:StepStoneMonsterKalaydoJobwareGeneric German Job Post AggregatorsAggregator sites differ from the job search sites above, in that they apply an algorithm to find job adverts and bring them all together in one place. Some (but not all) of these also generate revenue through allowing companies to advertise their positions directly on their sites.From most to least useful, in my opinion, the main sites are:IndeedZipRecruiterKimetaOpportunoBecause Indeed and ZipRecruiter are internationally active sites with a presence in several countries, you could check out their site in the UK or US to familiarise yourself with the general navigation of the site in English language before tackling the .de site. Think one step ahead.Employer & International Candidate Matching ServicesDeveloped out of necessity, these are a smart and innovative concept and potentially very useful to international job seekers looking for English speaking jobs in Germany.Employland, founded i n 2014, allows candidates to create profiles for free and have them matched together with potential employers. At the point of a successful conclusion of an employment contract, the employer pays a fee.ImmigrantSpirit works in a similar manner. This is the project of Düsseldorf-based Life Coach and Headhunter, Chris Pyak. Chris works with numerous companies to connect them with potential candidates. Candidates can register on the site for free and submit their CV and covering letter and Immigrant Spirit will match them with potential employers.Germany-USA Careers Service works along similar lines, but is based in the U.S. and aimed at Americans looking to work in Germany. GUCC aims foremost to place Americans with U.S. companies and government agencies which have a presence in Germany.ExperteerEven though this one is a German l anguage site, it deserves a mention on its own because of a certain nuance of the German jobs market: Namely that job adverts by and large do not indicate the expected salary range.Experteer bucks this trend as a portal for senior roles paying above €60,000 per year. Because it tends to play at the higher end of the market, there are also more job descriptions in English.Sites Aimed at English Speakers / ExpatsEurope Language JobsEurope Language Jobs is a portal especially for bi- and multi-lingual job candidates who are looking for international roles where they can utilise their language skills. Many positions on their site are with companies based in Germany.English-speaking jobs in GermanyA user-friendly site posting English speaking jobs in Germany, EnglishJobs.de allows you to search by major city or Bundesland. Most of the open postings on here are geared towards engineers, developers and programmers.Expat Jobs in Germany | expatjobseeker.deA fairly similar set-up to the previous site, however ExpatJobseeker.de seems to be much broader and less focussed on IT jobs.The LocalAdvertising itself as Germany’s news in English, The Local has an English jobs section, although this is a search-bot function which gathers job descriptions from other sites which are posted in English, rather than original content.JobsInThe JobsIn family of sites offer job postings in English for several German cities. Each one has its own unique URL. Here are the l inks for Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin and Leipzig.Germany StartUp JobsGermany StartUp Jobs is a fairly new site which also plays predominantly in the tech / IT field but has some other job categories too. There is a particularly strong focus on jobs in Berlin, which isn’t surprising given that it’s mainly jobs in tech industries which are listed.National NewspapersThese are worth a look too, but mainly offer German language job ads. The 3 most relevant for you will be:Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (or FAZ for short)Süddeutsche Zeitung, published in Munich.Berliner Morgenpost is also useful for Berlin and surrounding area.Facebook GroupsBe warned that most of these are for fairly casual and entry-level jobs. The ones listed below are those with the most members and which appear to be the most active.English speaking jobs in BerlinEnglish speaking jobs in MunichEnglish & International Jobs In FrankfurtEnglish Jobs DüsseldorfEnglish Jobs in HamburgThe groups below are focussed on the start-up scene and may be good hunting ground for those of you in a more technical field.Rhein-Main Startups (Frankfurt region)Berlin Startup JobsBerlin Startup Jobs (yes, this has the same name but is a different group!)Berlin Startup and other Jobs – German skills not requiredStartup Berlin JobsLeipzig Startup JobsMunich Startup JobsStart Up Jobs In Munich