We highly recommend that you use all available media to begin your job-search. By browsing newspaper and internet classifieds you will quickly get a good overview of the current situation in the job market. If you have them use any personal contacts to find opportunities and support your applications. In this section, we have gathered the necessary information for you in order to not miss any vacancies.
The Austrian employment service (AMS)
The AMS ( Arbeitsmarktservice) is a government institution dedicated to help unemployed people finding jobs. Companies post their job offers to the AMS and receive lists of candidates to interview. In order to use the AMS services getting your CV and profile into their system, you have to be officially registered as unemployed in Austria. If you are an EU citizen and already registered unemployed in your home country, you are entitled to use the AMS services to find also a job in Austria.
Internet job search
Internet job hunting is fast, easy and cheap. There are many job-sites and you can either browse all offered jobs by categories, or maintain your qualifications and preferences profile and the system will then tell you suitable job offers. Almost all job-sites for the Austrian market are available only in German! So make sure to brush up your German in time or get a friend to help you on browsing the pages.
As always with the internet – how do you know which job site is the right one? No problem, we have a short list of the most popular job-sites for you:
- www.jobpilot.at One of the most visited job-sites in Austria. You can enter your profile and will receive weekly listings of new job offers matching your criteria. Jobpilot is highly recommended and has helped many people finding their jobs. Thousands of job offers are available.
- www.derstandard.at/stellenmarkt This is the job-site of the known newspaper Der Standard. It offers a nice search engine with the capability to narrow your search to specific Austrian districts and also the type of job (Internship, full-time, part-time) you are looking for. It has 1000-2000 vacancies.
- www.dermarkt.at is a portal for jobs, cars and housing. It holds thousands of offers and is also the job-portal for the big Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. Many postings are from agencies.
- www.ams.or.at This is the official portal of the Austrian employment service. To look for positions, navigate to the ‘ejob-room. Almost all AMS services are available online, from job-search to education offers and help for foreigners. Some services are public, for others you will need to register on the site, and to do so you need a valid social security number.
Classifieds
These are a good way to look for a job – especially in Austria. You don’t even need to buy all the newspapers, just go to one of the traditional Viennese cafes, they have all Austrian newspapers. Then, while you enjoy the typical Apfelstrudel (a special apple pie), take some time to scan the classifieds sections of the most popular newspapers. You should look in: Der Standard, Die Presse, Kleine Zeitung and Kurier. However, also looking at the papers’ websites is highly recommended, as many offers don’t appear in the print versions.
Personal contacts
Last but not least, the most effective ‘tool’ to find a job. Like many places, in Austria personal relationships are important. Austrians trust friends and advisors, and getting a job because you know someone in the company is not regarded badly. So the first thing you should do is sit down and think about all your contacts in Austria – and how to get in touch with them. The time you spend on meeting old friends, and then their friends, during your job-search is certainly well invested. Tell everybody that you are looking for a job and what kind of work you would like to do. Austrians feel obliged to help their friends and they will inform you if a job opportunity is available.
Agencies
There are some agencies who offer jobs for temporary workers. You get employed by the agency and they will ‘rent you out’ to companies requiring temporary staff. This model works fairly well for lower level jobs, for example secretaries, construction and cleaning jobs. For many people this is a good starting point to get a job quickly. If you do a good job, the company which has originally just ‘rented’ you might take you over in a full position.
Here is a list of the larger agencies for temporary workers:
- Manpower http://www.manpower.at
- REX http://www.rex-dienstleistungen.com
- AVM http://www.avm-personal.at
- Adecco http://www.adecco.at