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Career Paths in German Studies 

German Studies is the study of the German language, literature, and culture. It is a humanities discipline with a direct and significant influence on all aspects of society.

This results in the following eight career paths in German Studies:

  1. Research and Teaching
  2. Communications: Journalism, Text Editing, Press and Public Relations, Science Communications, Corporate Communications, Advertising, Marketing
  3. Education: Extracurricular Education; Child, Youth, and Adult Education; School and Vocational Education; Cultural and Political Education; Language Learning and Teaching
  4. Consulting: Study and Career Counseling, Educational Advising, Staff Consulting, Personality Counseling, Speech Training, Rhetorics
  5. Management: Science Management, Knowledge Management, Publishing, Journalism, Content Management, Creative Management
  6. Organization and Administration: Archives, Libraries, Museums, Foundations, Ministries of Education and Culture, State and Civic Supervisory Bodies (LKA, BKA, FSK), Cultural Diplomacy (DAAD, Goethe Institute)
  7. Services: Publishing and Distribution; Bookselling; Trade Fairs; Language Schools; Vocal, Language, and Expression Training; Text Editing; Appraisal (origin, authenticity); Trendspotting; Author Recruiting and Retention; Summarization Services, Practical Rhetorics (speeches)
  8. Other: Arts and Culture Creation, Authorship, Screenwriting, Scripting, Reviewing, Critique

This information is based on information provided by the BERUFENET of the German Federal Employment Agency and surveys conducted with graduates of Marburg University. We would like to thank Edgar Losse from the Marburg branch of the Federal Employment Agency for the suggestions and support.

  • Literary Studies - Linguistics - German as a Foreign Language

    Anyone who takes on the challenge of scientifically exploring a “national language,” either their own or a “foreign” language, will soon find it to be an adventure. It’s never solely about the spoken word or the written text, but always about where it comes from, what influenced its creation, what “neighborhoods” can be discovered in it, what it wants to express, and what it can achieve.

    German Studies therefore always has both a historical and a contemporary perspective. It deals with both the everyday use of the spoken word and the highest form of artistic expression. It is both a science of communications and of arts and culture. When does speech become narrative, when does text become literature? Which media can be used to send messages? When is linguistic communication successful? How, where, and when does speaking, reading, or writing fail?

    It is no coincidence that many things come together in German Studies at Marburg in particular: linguistics, literary studies, speech science, communications, theater studies, media studies, art studies, and more. One special task that is worth highlighting is the teaching of language and linguistic culture, which creates a strong connection to schoolteacher training and is expressed beyond schools in the areas of “German as a Foreign Language” and “German as a Second Language.”

  • Specialists in reading, writing, and speaking

    People who study German language and literature have a wealth of opportunities to educate themselves further and to specialize. What they all have in common, however, is that they are avid readers, writers, and speakers.

    On the job market, they are widely recognized as THE specialists in reading, writing, and speaking and are eagerly employed wherever reading, writing, and speaking at the highest level are required.

    German Studies graduates can be found in all fields of the academic job market (research, communication, education, consulting, management, organization and administration, service provision, and beyond), but structurally, their “domains” are “communications” and “education.” The bridge to management is usually “content management,” and the skills they train in speaking, presenting, and rhetorics open up the fields of consulting (especially practical political consulting) and service provision.

    Arts and culture creation, theater, poetry, authorship... As masters of text analysis, something very special is open to them: critique and editing! There is no editing without critique, and no critique without the tools of editing. Whereas critique must look at the big picture, the finished artwork itself, editing is more of an upstream, detailed preview of the work, designed to ensure that it is well-received once it has been made public.

  • Career entry and the job market

    Writing

    Starting a career with a bachelor’s degree is somewhat easier in the more media and communication-oriented fields of German Studies than in pure Literary Studies. When it comes to writing the text and crafting the message, all German Studies graduates have opportunities.

    Experience shows that the job market tends to trust people with a master’s degree or higher to interrogate the text, mix up the message, and place communications into a larger context.

    Access to the “writing profession” (journalism, press and public relations) is usually gained through traineeships or guided, structured, and paid internships that lead to a “license to practice” (journalist, editor). This license to practice is not limited to a specific employer or form of publication, but allows for a greater freedom of movement in the writing and communications market.

    In the age of Netflix and other streaming producers, an old career path has experienced a rejuvenation: screenwriting or scripting. In addition to one’s own talent, longer, specialized professional training programs usually lead to the title of screenwriter. And, of course, they still exist: speechwriters.

    To get your career off to a successful start, it can be very helpful to familiarize yourself with the digital side of text production and distribution (authoring systems, content management systems) during your studies, e.g. through internships or continuing education courses, to acquire methodological and didactic knowledge from the field of education and educational science, or to learn about the tools of project management in business administration.

    Archiving

    In German studies too, a general background in the humanities provides access to all preservation, processing, and documentation activities (archives, libraries, museums), again mostly starting with a master’s degree via traineeships (“museum specialist”) or internships (“librarian”). However, it is those with a doctorate in German Studies that tend to be most successful in pursuing this path. 

    Publishing

    Access to the publishing industry, the more commercial, productive side of “communications,” is gained through trainee programs (“on-the-job training”). These are now very closely linked to the concept of content management and, more recently, to creative management. In contrast to internships, there is a stronger bond with the employer here, as the employer has set up the program in its own interest in order to recruit and train future senior staff. To put it bluntly: with a trainee position, the future job is an integral part, whereas with an internship, it’s not. 

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