Expat Mentors: Ask Someone Who Already Works in Your Field in Germany

Expat Mentors brings you industry and HR professionals from my network who moved to Germany themselves. Webinars and one-to-one sessions, opening in autumn 2026.

My Network of International Professionals in Germany

0

Years

Connecting International Talent with Germany

0 +

Professionals

Supported on their way to Germany

0 +

Nationalities

Supported in their Move to Germany

0 +

Expat Mentors

Ready to guide you to your first job in Germany, and more are to join soon

You've done the homework. The rest isn't written down.

Your CV follows the German format. Your LinkedIn profile says what it should say. You’ve read up on the visa route, and the applications are going out.

And still, the part that would actually help you isn’t written down anywhere. What the work in your field really looks like here. Which employers are worth your time and which aren’t. Whether the job title you had at home means the same thing here. When following up looks interested, and when it looks pushy.

Nobody spells this out, because to the people already inside an industry it isn’t information. It’s just how things are done.

Part of it I can help with. The Job Search Guide for Germany covers what holds true across industries, and in a Job Search Consultation we go through your own documents and target roles together. But general rules get you to the door of your industry, not inside it. What makes a convincing profile in nursing isn’t what makes one in enterprise software, and I won’t claim I know both from the inside.

The rest of it only exists in people’s heads. Most professionals here found at least part of their way through someone they knew: a former colleague, someone from university, someone who put in a word at the right moment. If you’ve just arrived, or if you’re still abroad, you don’t have that yet, and it takes years to build.

You could write to someone on LinkedIn, of course. Most people don’t, and I understand why. You’d be messaging a stranger in your second or third language, asking for their time, with no idea whether that’s welcome or whether you’re being a nuisance. Usually there’s no reply, which tells you nothing except that asking now feels harder than before.

That’s the hurdle Expat Mentors takes away. The person on the other side has already agreed to the conversation. They’ve set aside the time, they expect your questions, and they were once in your position, so you don’t have to explain why you’re asking. You’re not asking a favour from a stranger.

What you get out of it is the inside view of the role and the industry you’re aiming for: what the work looks like day to day, how people really get hired into it, and what would make your profile convincing here.

Two Ways how Expat Mentors can help you

Webinars

Small group sessions on one topic: an industry, a hiring practice, a part of the German application process. A mentor presents what they know from the inside, and there’s time for questions at the end.

This is the option to start with if your questions are typical for your field rather than specific to your own CV. Sessions are recorded where the mentor agrees to it, so you can watch again later.

One-to-one mentor sessions

A private conversation with a mentor matched to your field and professional situation. You send your questions and a short profile in advance. The mentor prepares so that the session can focus on your questions rather than introductions.

Who Are the Expat Mentors?

Internationals who have walked the path themselves

The mentors are not professional consultants or career coaches. They participate as experienced industry and HR professionals who can share practical insights from their own work and career in Germany. They’re former participants of the programs I managed, clients I’ve advised on their own move, and internationals from my personal circle who are now living and working in Germany. Over 20 years and more than 1,000 people advised, you get to know who’s worth introducing.

What they have in common is simple. Every one of them started out with exactly what you have now: no network here, no feel for the unwritten rules, and the same hesitation about approaching people. Today they have working careers in Germany, across a range of industries and roles.

Two kinds of expertise

Industry experts work in your field in Germany right now. They know what the daily reality of the role looks like, which employers are worth your time, what a realistic entry point is, and which parts of your international experience German employers may value

HR experts are recruiters and hiring managers. They read applications like yours as part of their job, and they can tell you what happens to your CV in the first thirty seconds.

Why there’s no public list of mentors

This is on purpose. Expat Mentors isn’t a marketplace where you browse profiles and book whoever has a free slot.

The mentors make time for this because they trust me to only match them with people they can genuinely help. A public directory would turn that into something else, and I’d rather keep it as it is. So I do the matching. You tell me your field and your situation, I tell you who fits, and I’ll say so honestly if nobody in the network is a good match for you yet.

Is this the right service for you?

A mentor session or webinar makes sense if:

  • You’ve decided on Germany, or you’re close to deciding, and now you want to know how your profession works here
  • You’re applying and getting rejections you can’t explain
  • You’d like to talk to someone in your industry here, but you don’t want to cold-message strangers and hope for an answer
  • Your qualification exists in Germany but under a different name, and you’re not sure how to present it
  • You want an honest read on your field from someone with nothing to sell you

It’s probably not what you need if:

  • Your main questions concern immigration pathways, requirements, or residence procedures. The Germany Immigration Call is the more suitable service for general immigration information and practical process planning.
  • You want your CV and applications reviewed. That’s the Job Search Consultation
  • You’re hoping a mentor will hand you a job or a referral

That last point deserves a sentence of its own. A mentor won’t get you a job. If they see a real fit, they’ll sometimes make an introduction, but they’re never expected to, and that’s deliberate. It keeps the conversation honest instead of turning it into an audition.

Expat Mentors provides practical industry and HR insights. It does not include job placement, recruitment, guaranteed referrals, legal advice, visa eligibility assessments or formal assessments of foreign qualifications.

Expat Mentors opens in fall 2026

I’m still onboarding mentors, and I won’t announce a date until enough of them have confirmed. Booking a session with a network that’s half-built helps nobody. Prices for both formats will be announced with that announcement.

If you’d like to know when it opens, leave me your email. That’s where I announce it first, along with the webinar schedule once it exists. You’ll also get my regular updates on the German job market and immigration practice, and you can unsubscribe with one click.

Telling me your field takes one more click, and it changes what I do next. The industries people ask for are the industries I go looking for mentors in.

Be the first to learn when Expat Mentors opens!

Want to join my Network of Expat Mentors?

If you’re an international professional with a career in Germany and you remember how little useful information there was when you started, I’d like to hear from you.

What this involves: occasional conversations with people in your field, and the option to run a webinar if you enjoy that format. You decide how often, and I only bring you people you can actually help. Mentors are paid for their sessions.

Write me a few lines about your field, your role, and how you got here.

Need Support Before Expat Mentors Opens?

You do not have to wait until the mentor sessions begin. Depending on your questions, one of these existing services may already provide the support you need.

Germany Immigration Call

For general information about immigration pathways, requirements and practical residence procedures in Germany.

The call helps you organize the information you have collected, understand the published requirements and identify your practical next steps.

30 minutes · €59 · written summary

Book the Germany Immigration Call

Job Search Consultation

For individual feedback on your professional positioning, target roles, resume and application strategy.

I review the information and career materials you provide before the session. Preparation, a written follow-up, the Job Search Guide and one review of your revised application materials are included.

60 minutes · €149 · preparation and follow-up included

Book the Job Search Consultation

Job Search Guide for Germany

For a complete self-guided roadmap covering employer research, application documents, networking, interviews, and relocation.

The guide also includes the curated list of more than 1,000 German employers that have advertised English-speaking roles.

90+ pages · PDF · €29 · instant download

Get the Job Search Guide