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Jobs & Working

In principle, what holds true for German students also applies to students from the EU and EEA member states and Switzerland: They can take on any job and work they wish – with the only restriction that they should not work more than 20 hours per week. Working more would oblige you to pay contributions to the social insurance. Apart from that, a weekly workload of more than 20 hours would presumably have a negative effect on your studies.

All other students – including students from the ‘new’ EU member states Bulgaria and Romania (until 2014) – are permitted to work only 120 days full-time per year or 240 days part-time per year. If you want to exceed this maximum, you will need not only the permission of the aliens department in charge, but also your local employment agency. Basically, it depends on the situation of the job market in the city you live in whether you receive the permission or not. With increasing unemployment rates, the chances for obtaining such a permit do decrease.

In general, all students, no matter where they come from, are allowed and encouraged to do jobs as so-called Studentische Hilfkräfte (student assistants) at their university. Since it is assumed that such jobs in the ‘academic sphere’ have a positive impact on the studies themselves, this kind of employment is free of timely restrictions. A student assistant can thus work more than 120 ‘full’ days a year.

You are playing with the idea of becoming self-employed? Well, attention! Self-employment always calls for the explicit permission of the aliens department. Self-employed work, too, must not exceed the above mentioned maximum of 120 full-time working days a year.

For students who are still attending the Studienkolleg or language classes in order to prepare for the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH), special and rather strict restrictions apply: They may only take a job during the semester break provided that the aliens department and employment agency have agreed in advance and they are only allowed to work during the semester break, i.e. in time periods when no lectures are held.

The website of the DAAD has more extensive information in store with regard to this topic:

Among other things, it keeps at hand a detailed booklet about the legal conditions of jobbing

One of the services offered by Marburg’s Agentur für Arbeit (employment agency) is a job placement service. All students can get registered for this service: Available student jobs are first offered to students registered in this database. If a job placement is successful, you will need to submit a matriculation certificate as well as your passport and residence permit.

It is also a good idea to regulary check the university’s homepage for job openings for students at the Philipps-Universität and other public facilities: