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[i]Well I'm not working for a company, I am self employed. It's a contract position for 12 months. Private healthcare is something I'd rather not have to pay for
Plus I really don't want to have to shell out three grand for bloody letting agents fees, another three grand for a deposit and then on top of that have to buy an entire house worth of stuff including all kitchen appliances, light fittings and everything. Hardly worth my while doing the job. [/i]
Hold the front page!
Shock horror, whinging contractor online...
Company in for the overheads or just factor them in if you contract.
3 Months Rent through the estate agent type people -
but private lettings are possible too - for beer + food someone will pick up the phone for you.
"The kitchen thing is really stupid" though
PS - We want to come back to the UK - but conditions are rubbish for engineers 🙁
Shock horror, whinging contractor online...
So I'm evaluating whether or not it's worth it to take a possible job, and that's whinging?
I keep bringing up the letting agents thing because I want to know what the alternatives are but also I am surprised that you lot think it's all perfectly reasonable.
Where exactly is it Molgrips?
I worked at IBM for two days in Munich. 😉 My experience went something like thus.
Land during a studded face convention. Lots of people walking around looking like this.
[img] 
[/img]
It's raining.
Go to Hotel. It's raining. Flick through TV channels. Decide 50% porn, 50% Hasselhoff is not for me, go down to bar.
Meet two suspiciously flirty barmaids who spend all night trying to get me to go home with them. It's raining.
Get up. It's raining. Have breakfast which appears to consist entirely of very spicy sausage.
Go to office where everyone speaks perfect English (it's the law at IBM). Try and get information out of everyone but they've all clammed up (some political thing to do with moving work out of Germany).
Go back to hotel. It's raining.
More beer, more flirty barmaids. Sleep, get up. It's raining. Eat more spicy sausage.
Go into office. Everyone has called in sick. Not just most, *everyone*.
Call boss, he says I might as well come home.
Get taxi to airport through the rain.
Fly to London where I find my connecting flight has been cancelled, no more flights up North today.
Hire a focus and drive through the night at 110mph.
Dump hire car at Manchester. Drive home.
Hope this helps. 😉
That sounds great sam, I'll keep an eye out for flirty barmaids.
I'll keep an eye out for flirty barmaids.
If you're planning on another baby then mrsmolgrips hormones will do that for you.
Why are you looking at work in weird places- for a change, or is there a shortage of work here at the moment?
Working abroad is good fun. Logistically a bit harder now than it used to be of course..
I'm interested in this one cos it's a good job, the guy seemed nice, it's a good rate and long duration, it was one of the first ones to come up, and Munich is near the Alps.
[i]Hardly worth my while doing the job. [/i]
Yep, whinging.
Hardly worth my while doing the job.Yep, whinging.
Evaluating.
Or should I perhaps do every job that comes my way and not be selective?
Molgrips
Just jesting, but as I'm an IT contractor and have worked in Germany, from a learned POV.
Each country has its pros and cons. And yes the letting fees are expensive, but thats because most Germans rent the same property for years. And the kitchen thing, well good kitchens are cheap and the industry is setup to put them in, and take them out - plus the 'kitchen room' is also setup for this.
Munich is a good place to work, but I'd be inclined to go 'single' first. We didn't, but at least I was a permie then and got certain 'advantages' probably not open to you. My wife though did find it hard, until after 6 months we met a nearby English/German couple with a child the same age as ours - then it got a lot easier.
My German is still crap though, as my collegues all wanted to improve their English...
I lived and worked in Munich for three years (about 7 years ago now).
I took my wife and two kids out there (were aged 2 & 6 at the time).
English will get you through without any problem but you will enjoy yourselves far more if you take the trouble to learn a bit of German.
Bringing up kids in Germany is far better in every possible way than the UK. Everything is kids/family freindly and you get far better familly allowance etc too.
Healthcare is far betterf than ours. eg when wife damaged cruciate ligament in ski accident, she had an MRI scan on the same day and saw the specialist within the next 24 hrs. Compare that to your typical "x weeks" wait here !!!
After we'd reluctantly returned to the UK (fixed term secondment), the whole family spent most of the next year asking when we could go "home again". Nuff said.
Erding is far enough away from Munich to have its own identity but close enough to use the S bahn to get into the city centre for a night/day out etc. I often visited colleagues who lived there and they loved it.
Tips:
1.Get yourself a tax adviser when you get there as you will pay lots of tax but will be able to claim loads of stuff back (eg new computer = tax deductable)
2. Put kids straight into German speaking kindergarten at the first opportunity. They will adapt and learn fast.
Can I come too?
It's where Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was filmed (the Gene Wilder version), so it will be ace!
so there really is a river of chocolate?
Bringing up kids in Germany is far better in every possible way than the UK.
Sweeping statements like that make me less inclined to believe them 🙂
I'm not moving anywhere permanently, so it's only going to be 12 months. I don't fancy spending a third of my possible profit on bloody letting fees and a kitchen... Plus what about that medical system. It's not free, is it?
It's not looking like it'd be very profitable for me.
Well, I got the job 🙂 Bit worried about the accommodation still, but there HAS to be an alternative to the long term rental thing where you have to supply your own kitchen. There have to be lots of business travellers like me in an international city.
there HAS to be an alternative to the long term rental thing where you have to supply your own kitchen. There have to be lots of business travellers like me in an international city.
There are alternatives, but bear in mind that the greatest demand will be from single professionals, most of whom will have a serviced apartment paid for by the company, i.e. pricey.
Yeah there are serviced appartments around.
At this rate I am going to take my caravan down.
OK try a rental holiday home/flat in the surrounding towns, especially towards the lakes area in the south - somewhere on the the S-bahn e.g. Gilching. I'd tell you were I stay when we go, but I'm sworn to secrecy as only one room has a kitchenette - sorry!
Congrats on your job. Have you had a look at the link I sent you. I have no idea what price you are looking at but a quick search pulled up [url= http://www.immobilienscout24.de/expose/57077642?is24EC=IS24&style=is24&navigationbarurl=/Suche/Wohnung-Miete/Bayern/Erding-Kreis ]this[/url] which has a kitchen included in the rent. Some landlords/agents will fit a kitchen if there is a flat you like but of course it will come out of your monthly rent.
have a look on the munich forum, internations.org