German Language career opportunities in India are increasing considerably day by day. German is taught as a foreign language in many schools and colleges. It is one of the most learned and useful foreign languages in India. Students of the Arts background who are interested in learning foreign languages typically take up Bachelor of Arts in German, Master of Arts in German or a Doctorate in German. Universities of major cities usually offer German certificate programs, diplomas, advance diplomas or German translation diplomas and programs.
Many students of the commerce background learn German as an additional degree. These days, many students from the engineering background are also taking up the language for better opportunities in future. Many cities have institutes where individuals learn the language with respect to career, higher studies, hobbies and other growth opportunities. With so many people speaking or knowing the language, an array of career options opens up.
Benefits of Learning German Over Other Foreign Languages in India
If you plan to live in India and make a career in German language or any other foreign language, you might want to consider the time zones that you would have to work in, if you plan to work in the corporate sector. Following are the benefits of learning German over Spanish, French or other foreign languages from career perspective:-
- Working in the CET time zone is very much convenient compared to the time zones of other countries. You might find yourself in night shifts or early morning shifts if you learn other languages, depending on the time zone of the countries.
- German language jobs in India pay well.
- There are a lot of German language job openings in India at any given point and many new companies having German language job profiles keep coming in.
- There are many full time, part time, freelance and remote work opportunities as well.
Which Courses or Degrees are Valid to Take Up German Language Jobs in India?
- Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts or Doctorate in German language.
- For students in the non-art fields, a graduation degree is mandatory in most of the cases along with level B2 or above from the Goethe Institut.
- Students of the non-art fields have an added advantage if they take up other university diplomas along with the Goethe Institute certificate courses.
German Language Career Opportunities in India
German Language in Travel and Tourism Industry of India
As per Statista, travelers from Germany stood in the top ten list of the “Leading source countries of foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2019”. That being said, the demand for German language career options in travel, tourism and hospitality industry is increasing as well.
Working as a Tour Guide for German Tourists in India
With so many German speaking tourists visiting India, German speaking tour guides is a pretty popular profession, specially in the popular tourist destinations of India such as Rajasthan, Varanasi, Delhi, Mysore and Goa.
Aspirants of this career can take up a course such as “Training Course For Tour Guide And Heritage Tour Guide” which is authorized by the Ministry of Tourism in India and get their legal licenses for the same. They should also study the language minimum up to level B1 in order to communicate fluently in the German Language.
Desk Jobs in Travel Companies
Other jobs related to travel and tourism could include desk jobs like travel executives or consultants at travel companies which might have the requirement of being in direct contact with the tourists in order to help them out with their itinerary, bookings etc. It could be related to translation and interpretation as well.
Language Speaking Tour Guides in Travel Companies
You could also end up with a job of being a language speaking tour guide in a tour company or agency in India or Germany and help Indian or German tourists.
Airline Industry
Knowing a language could also be helpful in getting a job at the airport or in the aviation industry.
German Language in the Education Industry of India
Since there are many students who learn the German language in India, the demand for teaching jobs is high too. Some of the German language career options in the teaching sector are listed below.
German Teacher or Professor
Most of the teaching jobs in schools need you to be qualified in German, at least up to level C1, apart from having a bachelor’s degree in any field. However, the profession of a Professor or Lecturer in Colleges or Universities would need you to have a higher qualification such as Masters or Doctorate in the German field.
Tutor in an Institute
Most of the teaching jobs in institutes need you to be qualified in German, at least up to level B2 or C1 and have a bachelor’s degree in any field. The perks of teaching in an institute are that you can choose it to be full time or part time as per your requirement.
Corporate Trainer
With the rise of German MNC’s in India, there are requirements of a basic know-how of the German language in certain projects. Corporate trainers come to the rescue in such corporate settings. With outsourcing and multiple support jobs, voice and accent trainers are also required.
If you have already completed your language course and just need to brush up a few concepts or vocabulary, you can check out a few online courses below. They are not at all expensive and are extremely helpful.
German Language Corporate Jobs in India
Since there are many new companies working on German projects or companies which are of German origin, the demand for language jobs in India is increasing. There are a lot of promising German language career growth opportunities in such MNCs.
Some of the companies which hire German language experts, specialists, analysts or translators include HCL, Amazon, Sutherland, Mercedes, BMW, AXA BS, Cognizant, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Atos, Randstad, Wuerth, Mahle, Volkswagen, T-Systems, Mphasis, Metro AG, Maersk and Accenture.
Banking, Finance Services and Insurance Related Jobs (BFSI Industry)
Students with bachelors in the commerce background and a B2 or C1 Level proficiency in German language are usually preferred for the FinOps Jobs in the MNCs. These jobs usually constitute an outbound voice process.
Examples of job roles in this industry are Financial German Language Analyst, Accounts Payable German Language Analyst, Accounts Receivable German Language Analyst, Insurance Analyst.
HR Recruitment Jobs
If you are a graduate or have studied MBA and also have the additional German language skill, you can opt for jobs like these. Typically, a German language proficiency of level B2 and above is expected in such jobs. These jobs usually constitute an outbound voice process where interviewing individuals to hire for a company could be a part of the role.
Example of a job role in this industry is HR Analyst.
Support Jobs
Students with bachelors in the IT background are usually preferred in German IT or tech support related jobs. It is a plus point if you have additional certifications like ITIL for jobs like these. Even if you don’t have any prior technical knowledge, nothing to worry about because companies usually provide training.
The support jobs can involve inbound, outbound calling and/or chat processes if you take up a job of Level 1 Service Desk support. Level 2 jobs need some more technical expertise in comparison to the Level 1 support jobs. These profiles usually include outbound calling or support over emails. These jobs might also require individuals to act as interpreters or translate text to mediate between the customers and the technical teams who do not understand the language.
Examples of job roles in this area are German Language Service Desk Analyst, German Language Technical Support Analyst, Systems Engineer etc.
Interpreters or Translators
Sometimes, there could be a requirement to communicate with either the German clients or German peers. The interpretation and translation roles come into picture in such situations where project requirements, improvements or specifications are required to be communicated to either parties in a specific language where communication gaps would otherwise exist. There could also be a requirement of translators to translate project documentation in German.
Examples of job roles in this area are German Language Translation Analyst, German Translator, German interpreter.
Miscellaneous German Language Jobs
Other jobs where German language proficiency could be taken into consideration are jobs related to testing, logistics, sales, mechanical engineering etc. However, you need to have a relevant Bachelors or Masters degree to apply to such jobs.
Check out this link to search for German language jobs in India,
German Language Freelance Jobs in India
Freelancing is getting more and more popular in every industry. If you are wondering where to get started with freelancing, you might want to check sites like Fiverr where you can grab your German language freelance gigs. To start your freelancing journey, you can create your profile on Fiverr below.
German Freelance Translator
Being a freelance translator has its advantages. You have the choice to select the number of hours you would like to work. You can either take up a job to translate German to English or English to German. Rates of the translation change in both the mentioned scenarios. Per word translation rates and time duration can be negotiated with the client before starting a project, based on the content type and size.
Proofreading
Like translation, proofreading is another popular German freelance job. You can take up proofreading projects for documents, books, websites etc.
German Freelance Interpreter
While translation deals with converting a source language to a target language in the written form, interpretation deals with the spoken form. You can take up freelance interpretation projects of various types such as simultaneous, consecutive and telephonic interpretation.
Digital Marketing, Content Creation and SEO
With the inclination of making money online through websites, social media, podcasts, e-books and other channels, the jobs related to content creation, digital marketing of the content and search engine optimization are growing too.
Examples of some roles in this area are content creation for a German website, creating language learning podcasts, writing a section of a German book and more.
Voice Over Artists
There is a demand for voice over artists, sound artists, narrators and audio engineers too. You will be surprised to find many gigs where these areas of expertise are required on freelancing platforms.
Language Blogger
With the current situation like COVID, there is a rise in learning German online to a great extent. If you have a command over the language and some interest and knowledge in online content creation, you can easily take up German language blogging career as an option. If you are confused about this one or are a complete beginner, don’t worry! We have a complete guide for you to get your language blog started.
Chapter 1: How to Start a Language Blog
Chapter 2: Starting a Free Language Learning Blog
Chapter 3: Best Tools to Create a Language Learning Blog
Youtubers
If you are comfortable teaching German to an audience and learners online, you can start a German language teaching channel on YouTube and eventually monetize it. It takes quite some time to earn in this case. If you take it up initially as a hobby, you might be able to make it your full time job depending on the growth of your channel.
German Language Private Tutor or Language Coach
You might want to take up teaching as a freelance career if you have completed B.A or above in German, or completed at least level C1 from the Goethe Institute. You could also check out the “Teacher Training Program” by the Goethe Institute, if you want to take up teaching as a career. This program would be helpful for you to start your own German language coaching class.
German Language Embassy Jobs or Government Jobs in India
Being proficient in German can also help in applying for jobs in the German consulate and embassy in India. You can also give competitive exams like UPSC and take up jobs in Indian Foreign Services in the Ministry of External Affairs in various divisions.
This was all about the German language career options in India. If you know any more options and wish to share those, please comment below or you can also talk about it on our forum!
