Cisco engineer in Germany

Hi guys,
Anybody knows whether it's mandatory to speak/write German, if we want to work as a Cisco network engineer in Germany? I heard that German folks know English, but are inclined to use their mother tongue language, with foreigners.

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Comments

EdTheLad

Really depends, i worked in Germany for 1 year with no German. Generally if you work in a technical job most people will speak english, of course they will prefer to speak German.

Master Of Puppets

If you want to move to another country, you should just learn the language. Since you are going to live there you will have to do it sooner or later and it's going to save you a lot of trouble. Additionally, German is awesome! I don't know why people are scared of it, I love it.

However, they are not like the French, for example, who know English but will never in a million years talk to you in something other than French. You can do fine with English in Germany.

jibbajabba

Depends on the area / city as well. I am from Germany and when I still lived there, people barely spoke English. It is in your interest to learn German to be honest. It did get a lot better over the years though (I left 2001 so a lot has changed). Now friends and I went to the Nurburgring a few times and went to stag dos as well, and they all did ok without any German. But to order a beer or food never really required local language knowledge

But living there ? Whole different issue. I used to work in Gibraltar and lived in Spain across the boarder - I didn't speak any Spanish so getting things sorted like phones / rent etc. was always a struggle.

The hardest step however will be getting the job without German to begin with, if that is the case, then there isn't any good reason why you shouldn't give it a shot

Oh and always worth watching :

German Coast guard trainee - YouTube

lsud00d

I've visited Germany a few times and my experience is most people can speak English, however like MoP's experience in France I found some just refuse to speak it. That said, German's are generally very nice people. I would advise your first phrase to be:

"Sprechen sie Englisch?"

Also, counting starts with the thumb. If you order "one" beer with your index finger, you'll be drinking double all night.

jibbajabba

lsud00d wrote: »

If you order "one" beer with your index finger, you'll be drinking double all night.

Only if index and thumb form a "V"

Cyberhooligan

interesting cold knowledge to know about!

ccnpninja

thanks guys!

JustFred

Do everything you can to learn the language, it will help you tremendously in the long run. Get the job and try to take evening classes. You can pick up the language by interacting with your colleagues and they will help you. Seriously anyone moving to a country long term should do their utmost best to learn the language. It makes life bearable. Good luck and have fun.

RouteMyPacket

Master Of Puppets wrote: »

If you want to move to another country, you should just learn the language. Since you are going to live there you will have to do it sooner or later and it's going to save you a lot of trouble. Additionally, German is awesome! I don't know why people are scared of it, I love it.

However, they are not like the French, for example, who know English but will never in a million years talk to you in something other than French. You can do fine with English in Germany.

I agree on the language being awesome, but it's natural for me. : )

With that said, are you an American? You could maybe do better than others when not being able to speak German but in the end you are kidding yourself if you think you can stroll on over and expect everyone to speak your language. How do you plan to relocate there? Have a German company sponsoring your visa? Then it shouldn't be a problem if that is so, that is 90% of the issue working abroad, the visa.

Blackout

My co worker is out of Belgium, he speaks perfect English. I have also been told by Cisco, I can request to move anywhere where there is a Cisco office, I.E. Japan (Which is where I would move). I do not believe that Cisco requires you to speak the native language where you work.