Getting a job on Erasmus

Here is a guide to future Erasmus students planning to take a job during their stay : Good part, the money. Bad part depends on you.

Coming to Munich as an Erasmus student, I was not planning to get a job for two reasons : First, I felt like the interesting part of the Erasmus experience was the amount of free time we have, which allows us to fully enjoy the city in the limited time we have, which a job on the side would drastically reduce. Second, I thought that my German level, which we could describe as inexistent, would not allow me to get hired anywhere. Nevertheless, regarding my financial situation after the end of the first semester, I knew I had to take a student job to survive to the second one. This necessary decision was hard to take, but I managed to come at peace with it.

Fortunately, a french bakery near the university called Dompierre was hiring, which would be the perfect student job, in the middle of LMU buildings, with a young team of students. Despite my lack of German skills, I was taken, not with great confidence coming from the manager, in whose eyes I could see a lot of hesitation. I think my previous job experiences and the fact that I’m a french speaker saved me.

As a communication student, I managed to communicate very well with my fellow coworkers, who amazingly either spoke perfect english or were coming from french-speaking countries, as well as with the clients, in the majority very understanding and patient with me. And, crazy as it sounds, I drastically improved my German. I still have a weak spot, being the very old and grumpy clients mumbling in a Bavarian accent which I cannot understand.

I would probably not recommend you to take a job if you’re only staying one semester. If I had to do it during my entire stay, it would honestly have ruined it : I wouldn’t have made so many close friends, experienced so much, visited so many places, and my FOMO would have gone crazy. But the fact that I had an amazing experience during my first semester allowed me to appreciate the fact that I was not doing crazy stuff this semester, mostly working and studying, kind of living like a real Munich inhabitant which was nice to experience.

Of course you may have no choice but to work, in which case I have to reassure you by saying that you can still manage to enjoy your stay, and go out a lot, you’ll just be a little tired at the end of it. I just chose to be on a more slow path this semester. But whether you get a job or not, time is going fast in Erasmus, so become a Yes man and take every opportunity presented to you to enjoy your stay !