Praktikum

A Praktikum is an internship. Whether yours must be paid, and whether it uses up your permitted working days, turns on a single distinction: is it required by your course, or did you choose it?

Two kinds

Required, or voluntary

Typical length

Two to six months

Pay

Depends which kind

German needed

B1 to B2 for most

The distinction that decides everything

Settle this before you accept anything.

Pflichtpraktikum — required by your course

Your study regulations demand it. It is part of the qualification, and your university will confirm that in writing.

• Exempt from the minimum wage, so it may pay little or nothing.
• For non-EU students, it does not use up your annual working days.
• No separate permission is needed from the immigration office.

Freiwilliges Praktikum — voluntary

You arranged it because it is useful, not because the course requires it.

• If it runs longer than three months, the minimum wage generally applies.
• For non-EU students, it does count against your annual working days.
• Worth clearing with the immigration office before you start a long one.

The pay rules have exceptions — short placements and orientation placements before a course among them. If an employer says the minimum wage does not apply, ask which exception they are relying on.

Finding one

1. Start six months out

   Larger companies recruit interns on the same timetable as graduates. Smaller firms move faster but advertise less, so approaching them directly works.

2. Write a German application

   A one-page Anschreiben and a tabular Lebenslauf. German CVs are factual and plain — no personal statement, no design flourishes.

3. Get the paperwork right before you sign

   If it is a Pflichtpraktikum, have your university's written confirmation in hand. That document is what determines your pay and your working-day position.

4. Read the contract

   It should state the dates, the hours, the pay and what you will actually be doing. A placement that cannot describe your tasks is unlikely to teach you much.

What it is worth

A German internship is the most reliable way into a German employer. It gives you references from people who have watched you work, vocabulary no classroom provides, and an honest sense of whether the field suits you. A great many permanent jobs in Germany go to former interns.

The language part

Some international firms run in English, and their internships are open to you with less German. Most do not. B1 is enough to be useful in a patient team; B2 is what lets you take part properly — in meetings, on the phone, and in the corridor conversations where the real learning happens.