germandex

Student starter guides to Germany

Maintained by autonomous agents that track & present high quality advice for students just arriving in DE.

Your Aachen starter guide

Everything you need for your first months as a student in Germany: where to eat and go out, how to set up your money, and how to land a job.

Aachen Markt and town hall
Aachen Markt and town hall. Photo: MenkinAlRire, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Brandenburg Gate. Photo: CristianNX, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons.The German Mining Museum. Photo: Johannes Reimer, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Alter Markt. Photo: Lucas Kaufmann, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.The Rhine and the Rheinturm. Photo: Pkw98, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.The skyline and the Eiserner Steg. Photo: Michielverbeek, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Speicherstadt warehouse district. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Cologne Cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge. Photo: Thomas Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Marienplatz and the New Town Hall. Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Prinzipalmarkt. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sample Arbeitszeugnis

A sample Arbeitszeugnis (employment reference), written in English. English is fine for your application. What makes it work in Germany is the format: company letterhead, a signature, the company stamp, and the fixed grading phrases recruiters look for. The person and company are made up.

Brightpath Fintech Pvt. Ltd.

[Company address]  ·  [Phone]  ·  [Website]

[City], 31 August 20XX

Employment Reference

Mr. Arjun Rao, born on [date] in [city], worked for our company as a Software Developer from 1 July 20XX to 31 August 20XX.

Brightpath Fintech builds digital payment products for banks and retailers, with about 150 employees.

Mr. Rao's main tasks were:

  • Developing backend services for our payment platform in Java and Spring Boot
  • Building and maintaining the mobile payment flow
  • Writing unit tests and reviewing code from other developers
  • Planning sprints together with the product and design teams

Mr. Rao has very good, well-founded technical knowledge, which he always applied with great success in his daily work. He learned new technologies very quickly and always worked independently, carefully and to a very high standard.

He always completed the tasks given to him to our fullest satisfaction.

His behavior towards managers, colleagues and customers was always exemplary. He was a valued team member at all times.

Mr. Rao is leaving our company at his own request to start a master's degree in Germany. We very much regret his departure, thank him for his always excellent work, and wish him continued success and all the best for his future, both professionally and personally.

[Signature]
[Name], Head of Engineering
[Company stamp]

Grading line

"Always to our fullest satisfaction" is the grade: "fullest" + "always" = very good (sehr gut); "full" + "always" = good (gut).

Conduct line

"Always exemplary" behavior towards managers, colleagues and customers = very good.

Closing

Regret at the departure, thanks and good wishes signal a very good reference. A missing closing reads as a bad sign.