The hall of the National University in Honduras (UNAH) fills up. Students and graduates want to follow an online workshop from the ZAV on "Working and Living in Germany." One of those interested is the electrical engineer Jairo Tejada. He had heard about the event through the university's official Graduates-Facebook page.
Through the Online Workshop, Jairo Tejada, who had already started learning German a few years ago, gained new interest in working in Germany. He approached the Virtual Welcome Center of the ZAV, and at the same time, he took another German course at the Humboldt Institute Honduras. The ZAV not only sent him several job vacancies, but also advised him individually on the correct writing of his application letter and CV.
At the end of March 2018, eventually the time had come: He had successfully gotten an employment contract, with a start date of 1st June. With time running out, there was an issue with the recognition of his degree because without it, the Federal Employment agency cannot give its approval for the Residency permit; and he had not yet heard anything back regarding the status. With the support of the ZAV, the recognition process at the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) was restarted and the employer agreed to wait a bit longer for his new employee.
Now everything seemed all sewn up, however in the end, it became precarious once again, because the approval from the BA was negative due to the low salary. After consulting with the ZAV once again, the employer raised the wage and agreed to continue waiting for Jairo Tejada. The new approval procedure went through with a positive, which meant that Jairo Tejada could start work in Lindau at Lake Constance on 1st September and as an early Christmas present, his wife was able to follow him on the 1st December.
We talked to Jairo Tejada about his new life in Germany and his new job:
Zitat:Mr. Tejada, what was your motivation to come to Germany?
The reason I want to work in Germany is to expand my professional profile as an electrical engineer, as Germany is a pioneer in technology, applied science and research.
How was the support of the ZAV? To what extent was it of help?
The advice provided by the ZAV was very important to me. Especially the information about how I had to write my cover letter and my CV, what documents I had to enclose for the application, helped me a lot. That was very different from what I knew from Honduras.
What do you associate with Germany and what are your expectations of your new life here?
Germany is well known in Honduras for technology and its car industry, as well as being a four-time soccer world champion. My expectations are to exchange knowledge and to be able to quickly participate as a full-fledged employee in my new company and to settle into Germany in the best possible way, with my professional and private life.
To what extent does moving to Germany represent a separation from Honduras? And can you imagine helping other Hondurans to take a similar path in the future?
A disconnect? No, on the contrary, it will extend the bridge between Germany and Honduras, in many respects. And of course, if they have already graduated from university and really have a sincere desire to work in Germany, I will also be available to my compatriots as a counterpart.
Mr. Tejada, thank you very much! We wish you a good start in to your professional life and a lot of success in getting used to your new career.