Support for dual career couples

Since 2007, the University of Konstanz has recognized the importance of dual career couples in research and advises its dual career couples ever since.

With the implementation of its Dual Career Policy in 2011, the University of Konstanz has explicitly committed itself to supporting dual career couples.

Who can benefit from the individual advice?

The dual career advice is designed for the second moving partners of:

  • newly appointed professors
  • new female postdoctoral researchers (in terms of the advancement of women)
  • new junior researchers with children (in terms of family support)
  • new employees in key positions of professional services such as administration or IT (in terms of human resources development)

Please note:

Your partner is eligible for the services of the dual career advice if
- you have been at the University Konstanz for less than a year and
- your contract will run for at least two more years.

In line with the university’s diversity policy, the programme is open to all couples, explicitly including same-sex and queer couples.

What do we offer?

Depending on the target group, we provide the following support:

  • individual information and advice regarding employment opportunities in the region
  • assistance with the application process and support with the transfer requests for partners who are permanent civil servants
  • if applicable, establishing contacts to human resources managers inside and outside of academia

Even if we cannot guarantee you a position, we will do our best to support you in your job search.

General information for job seekers from abroad

Work permit

As a foreigner you are allowed to work in Germany if you either

  • are a citizen of the EU, Island, Liechtenstein, Norwegen or Switzerland;
  • or have a valid visa with access to the labour market.

The Welcome Center helps newly at the University of Konstanz employed international researchers and their partners with visa issues. Please contact welcome@uni.kn. Fur further information on the Welcome Center of the University of Konstanz please visit www.uni-konstanz.de/en/welcome-center.

Language skills

Though a lot of international companies are located in Germany, the general working language is German. According to the Employment Agency, people who look for qualified work need to speak German at the level of B2 (Common European Framework of References for Languages).

Therefore, it is highly recommended to start to learn German as soon as you decide to move to Germany. For instance, the Goethe Institute offers German language courses all over the world: www.goethe.de/en/index.html.

If you are already in Konstanz, we will be happy to help you with information on local language schools and courses.

Recognition of foreign professional qualifications

If you learned an occupation or studied abroad, it is in general beneficial to get your certificates officially recognized. For some occupations an official admission and recognition procedure is needed to be allowed to work in this field (e. g. doctors of medicine, dentists, nurses, teachers, lawyers, engineers).

The Recognition Finder of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research helps you to find the fitting address: www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de.

Translation of documents

For the recognition procedure the certificates (e. g. studies, school) have to be translated into German by an officially certified translator. You can find a fitting translator on bw-suche.bdue.de.

Please note that it is also recommendable to apply in German even if your German language skills are still basic. For the majority of HR managers it is easier to get the relevant information in their mother tongue. With sending a German application you therefore increase your chance to be invited to a job interview. The translators also might help you with finding the fitting expressions for your application in German.

Register for the services of the Employment Agency

Since the recognition procedure is costly you might get support by the Employment Agency.

  • Contact the Employment Agency in Konstanz.
  • Select the contact form "Menschen aus dem Ausland" and "Arbeiten in Deutschland".
  • The Employment Agency will contact you as soon as possible.

Your benefit

The Employment Agency can support your job search under certain conditions with e.g.

  • Financial help for the approval of your certificates
  • Integration subsidy for companies that employ you
  • Information, advice and contacts to employers

Please note

  • The Employment Agency is an official authority of the German state - its staff usually only speaks German. Therefore, ask somebody you know and who speaks German to help you.
  • If you don’t know anybody yet, ask the Employment Agency to organize an interpreter (for instance via the Sprachmittlerdienst Konstanz).

Helpful websites: Applying in Germany

Do you have any further questions?

We will be glad to refer you to other service providers at the University of Konstanz.