Intercultural diversity

Intercultural diversity

Inter...what? “Interculture” happens whenever different cultures meet. Fun fact: Around a quarter of the population in Lower Saxony have a personal or familial history of immigration. Lower Saxony as an employer is just as diverse as the people living in this federal state. We sincerely believe in living diversity both in terms of staff policy and our everyday working lives. That is why the state is committed to equal opportunity recruitment procedures and raising awareness of cultural differences. We support this process by providing training for employees and especially the management.

To best reach everyone out there, we have made the career portal information available in different languages. Simply select your preferred language using the appropriate tool at the top right. If, despite our best efforts, you are still in doubt about anything at all, please contact us via the contact form.

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Good to know

How do I apply without a German passport?

When applying without a German passport, a distinction is made between the requirements for a career as a civil servant and a career as a salaried employee.

To work as a civil servant (clerical grade, higher or senior civil service) you need to be a citizen of another member state of the European Union or of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

As a general rule, people of all nationalities can be employed as salaried employees. However, you will need a residence permit entitling you to pursue gainful employment.

However, if you are still abroad, a German diplomatic mission abroad is your first point of contact for all questions relating to visas and residence permits for training/employment purposes.

Certain residence permits will allow you to work almost automatically, for example:

the residence permit for Turkish nationals (Section 4 (2) Residence Act)
Persons who have been recognized as persons entitled to asylum or who have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection (Section 25 (1) or (2) Residence Act). This also applies to holders of a residence permit for family reunification (Sections 28 - 36 Residence Act)

How do I apply for a training position or a job in the public sector without a German school-leaving or training qualification?

As a general rule, foreign qualifications are not an obstacle to employment in the civil service. To work in regulated professions* with a foreign qualification, it must first be recognized in Germany. You can apply for this recognition by contacting the competent authority. Official recognition depends on which educational qualifications you have and for what purpose you need an equivalence certificate. No recognition of foreign qualification is required for employment in non-regulated professions. It is also possible to obtain an individual certificate and/or transcript assessment from the Central Office for Foreign Education. For more information, we have compiled the following information to help you and provide guidance.

Good to know!

What are regulated professions?

The practice of certain professions in Germany is conditional upon the prior recognition of professional qualifications. These professions are called regulated professions. Regulated professions include, for example, medical professions, legal professions, teaching at state schools and professions in the public sector. Professional qualifications acquired abroad require recognition, which is regulated by federal or state laws or administrative regulations. Most professions in Germany are not regulated. Here you can find out which professions require recognition of professional qualifications. This list provides an overview of the regulated professions:

Career clusters of regulated professions

What criteria does my foreign qualification have to meet in order to be recognized?

To find out which criteria your qualification has to meet in order to be recognized, please go to the website of the Lower Saxony Education Portal.

The overview contained in the Anabin database can help you to find out more on how best to get your qualification recognized. The database provides information on the evaluation of foreign educational qualifications. It also helps you to classify your foreign qualification within the framework of the German education system. If your foreign qualification is not published or assessed in the database, you will need an individual certificate assessment from the Central Office for Foreign Education. Primarily, however, the portal also provides you with information on how useful your foreign qualification is for career purposes

How can I get my foreign professional qualification(s) recognized?

An attestation of eligibility makes it possible to establish a comprehensive, detailed and binding definition of the equivalence of professional qualifications acquired abroad to the corresponding German job profiles. As a prerequisite to qualify for this procedure you need to have completed formal vocational or professional training abroad. An attestation of eligibility is a must for regulated professions. Non-regulated professions, on the other hand, can be practiced without it. Nevertheless, recognition can also be very useful when applying for a specific job. If a full attestation of eligibility is not initially possible during the recognition procedure, this can be achieved via compensatory measures or adaptation qualification to compensate for the most significant differences.

Information on professional recognition and the bodies responsible for the procedure is available on the “Recognition in Germany” portal. Individual counseling on the procedure, the appropriate reference profession (the profession in Germany that is comparable to a foreign professional qualification) and possible compensatory measures or adaptation qualifications is offered by numerous counseling centers in Lower Saxony, for example the regional IQ recognition and qualification counseling centers and the state-wide Berufsanerkennung office. Interested parties abroad can contact the Central Service Center for Professional Recognition for advice.

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What are compensatory measures?

Typical compensatory measures include examinations or courses aimed at leading to recognition in regulated professions. The measures required are described in the certificate of recognition. However, applicants generally have the right to choose. Possible options are an adaptation period, an aptitude test or knowledge test.

What are adaptation qualifications?

Adaptation qualifications make it possible to compensate for significant differences in non-regulated professions. The certificate of recognition does not specify how to compensate for the significant differences in non-regulated professions. Relevant practical or theoretical qualifications administered by training providers or in companies should be coordinated with the competent government authority to make sure that the qualification and subsequent application will lead to official recognition.

What language skills are required?

As a general rule, there are no specific language requirements for recruitment. However, as we work for the citizens of Lower Saxony, German is an important criterion. As a rule, the job advertisement will tell you which language skills or language level you should have. It is therefore up to the hiring authority to decide whether you have the language skills required for the job.

Chart for determining the language level

Helpful links compiled for you

Central Office for Foreign Education

Lower Saxony Education Portal

Anabin Database

Central Office for Foreign Education

Recognition in Germany

Regional IQ Recognition and Qualification Counseling Centers

State Office for Professional Recognition

Central Service Center for Professional Recognition

Career clusters of regulated professions

Discover how integration and diversity make Lower Saxony a strong employer (in German)

Shape your career.
In the largest team in Lower Saxony.

Meaningful and varied tasks are waiting for you.

You are interested in the State of Lower Saxony as employer? Why specifically in this State? Because the civil service offers safe working conditions? Or because we are the largest employer of the region? Convincing arguments!

But that’s by far not all. There are a lot of good reasons why you should apply with us.

Learn more

Intercultural diversity

Intercultural diversity

Good to know

Helpful links compiled for you

Discover how integration and diversity make Lower Saxony a strong employer (in German)

Shape your career.In the largest team in Lower Saxony.

Meaningful and varied tasks are waiting for you.

Shape your career.
In the largest team in Lower Saxony.