Where to apply for jobs in Germany, and what each job site wants from your CV

First: prepare two files and one plain-text copy

Before you register anywhere, make three versions of the same CV: a PDF Lebenslauf in German or English as the ad needs, a second PDF with no photo and no graphics for upload portals that ask for that, and a plain-text copy for online forms that make you paste or retype your history. Every site below takes one of these three, and having them ready stops you from editing a CV inside a web form at midnight.

The Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) puts the reason simply: Germany has well over 1,000 job portals, and no app or portal holds every vacancy. It advises picking at least one of each type, general boards, job search engines, sector boards and regional boards, and seeing where your results are best.

How applying in Germany works, whatever the site

On its page for people abroad, the BA says companies state in the ad which documents they want, and you send the application directly to the company, most often by email or through the company website. A job site is usually where you find the vacancy, not where the employer decides. The documents themselves are covered on the application documents page.

1. Find the ad on a board or a company career page.
2. Read which documents it asks for and in which language.
3. Apply the way the ad says: the site's own apply button, the company's form, or email.
4. Keep the profile on the boards current so recruiters searching profiles can find you.

German still matters on English-language boards

The BA's page on language says many companies expect at least basic German and that English alone is usually not enough. Some professions, such as doctors, nurses and educators, have legally set language requirements. Which language to write the CV in is decided on its own page.

The official boards: Jobsuche, Make it in Germany, EURES

The Bundesagentur für Arbeit's Jobsuche

The BA calls its Jobsuche one of the largest online job boards in Germany. You can search without registering, with filters such as full-time, part-time, home office and minijob. If you register, you can save searches, get alerts for new ads, create job requests (Stellengesuche) and store an applicant profile with all your documents for online applications. The interface is in German.

Make it in Germany

The BA describes Make it in Germany as the federal government's job portal for skilled workers from abroad, and the German missions in Türkiye link it on their employment visa page. Its own pages refused our reader on 12 October 2026, so this page makes no claim about its features beyond the BA's description.

EURES

EURES is the European Union's job mobility network. Its help page says it exists to make free movement of workers easier within the European Economic Area and Switzerland, covers 31 countries and is free for jobseekers and employers. It also says plainly that finding a job through EURES does not change national rules for non-EU nationals, including work and residence permits. Since 31 March 2025 EURES has had no jobseeker accounts: you build a Europass profile and share it with EURES, with explicit consent, and employers can then search and view it.

The commercial boards and networks

LinkedIn

LinkedIn's help centre says an Easy Apply job lets you upload a CV in the optional Resume field; it recommends under 2 MB and accepts Word or PDF. LinkedIn keeps your four most recent uploads for reuse. A plain Apply button sends you to the company's own site. A CV uploaded while applying goes to that hirer, but one attached to your profile or a post is visible to anyone who views it and may be visible off LinkedIn. Open to Work can be shown to all members, with a photo frame, or to recruiters only, and LinkedIn says it cannot guarantee that people at your current company will not see it.

XING

XING's German-language jobs page says it lists over a million jobs and over 20,000 recruiters, invites you to create a profile so jobs come to you, and offers a CV builder that downloads as a PDF. Its job categories include Werkstudent·in, minijobs and career changers. These figures are XING's own; we did not check them.

Indeed

Indeed's help page for Germany says you upload a Lebenslauf to your profile, preview it and save it; the file is converted to PDF automatically. It tells you not to scan or photograph the CV and that the CV should contain no photos or graphics. You choose whether employers can find your CV or whether it stays hidden.

StepStone

StepStone's help and terms pages refused our reader on 12 October 2026, so we make no claim about its profile or application features. Read its help pages yourself before you upload.

Company career pages

The BA notes that some firms post vacancies only on their own career site, and that career pages also name the contact person and the application process. For a speculative application (Initiativbewerbung), it says to check there what the company expects.

Job sites compared: who they serve, what they ask, which language

'Not verified' means we could not read that site's own pages on 12 October 2026 and will not guess. The photo question for the German PDF itself is covered on the photo and personal details page; Indeed's instruction applies to what you upload to Indeed.

Tuning one CV for several boards

• Profiles that recruiters search (BA, EURES via Europass, LinkedIn, XING, Indeed) are read by their fields, so put the job title you want in the field meant for it, in the language of the ads you target.
• Upload portals turn your file into their own view. Indeed converts it to PDF; a scan or photo of a CV defeats that, as Indeed warns.
• Online forms make you retype. A plain-text copy in the same order as your Lebenslauf saves time and keeps dates consistent across applications.
• Keep one master CV and change the summary line and the order of skills per ad, rather than keeping a different history on each site.

Spot a fake job offer

The BA's advice to people abroad: make no payment if in doubt, accept no contract if nobody checked your qualifications or interviewed you, verify the contact details on the company's own website, and give no personal data until you know who you are dealing with. Its advice and placement service for people abroad is free.

Proof: sources and the date we read them

Every statement about a site comes from that site or from the BA, read on 12 October 2026. Links are under Sources.

Limits of this comparison

This page compares where to find and send applications. It does not rank the boards by number of ads or by results, because we found no independent source for either. Sector boards (for example in health or IT) and regional newspaper boards are left out; the BA points to its BERUFENET, under each occupation's labour-market tab, for boards specific to a profession.

If you are not an EU citizen, no job board changes your visa position. The visa pages for your situation are on the national visa and Blue Card pages.

Next steps

• Set up the BA Jobsuche and one commercial board this week, with alerts for two job titles.
• Build the Europass profile if you are an EU citizen or plan to apply in several EU countries.
• Write the German Lebenslauf once, following the German CV format page, then derive the other versions from it.

CitedCV exports the same CV as PDF, DOCX and TXT, and its review page shows the plain text in the order a parser reads it, which is the version to paste into company forms. It can write the CV in German with German conventions from the facts you confirm.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Wie kann ich in Deutschland eine Arbeit finden?www.arbeitsagentur.de/arbeiten-in-deutschland/jobs-finden
2. Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Job findenwww.arbeitsagentur.de/arbeitslos-arbeit-finden/bewerbungstraining/job-finden
3. Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Wie gut muss ich Deutsch können?www.arbeitsagentur.de/arbeiten-in-deutschland/deutschkenntnisse
4. Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Jobsuchewww.arbeitsagentur.de/jobsuche/
5. EURES, Help and supporteures.europa.eu/eures-services/help-and-support_en
6. EURES, Looking for work in Europe? Here's how changes to the EURES portal affect youeures.europa.eu/looking-work-europe-heres-how-changes-eures-portal-affect-you-2025-03-18_en
7. Europass, Sending your Europass CV to EURESeuropass.europa.eu/en/sending-your-europass-cv-eures
8. Europass, Create your Europass CVeuropass.europa.eu/en/create-europass-cv
9. LinkedIn Help, Upload your resume to LinkedInwww.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a510363
10. LinkedIn Help, Visibility and usage of your uploaded resumewww.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a506429
11. LinkedIn Help, Let recruiters know you are Open to Workwww.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a507508
12. Indeed Help (Germany), Uploading a CV file to your profilewww.indeed.com/help/job-seekers/articles/4408783727629-uploading-a-resume-file-to-your-profile?hl=de&co=DE
13. XING, Jobswww.xing.com/jobs
14. German missions in Türkiye, Erwerbstätigkeittuerkei.diplo.de/tr-de/service/05-visaeinreise/2720718-2720718