I've applied at quite a few firms and offices for an Ausbildung. I either get - no call back, no answer (by mail or email or middle finger), no..... nothing. Sooooo, I decide to go to a Caritas help center for Auslanders (really starting to hate that word).
The Lady is kind and patient and has a knack for speaking in German in a way that a non-native speaker can understand. It is soooooo comforting to be understood at damn close to 100% and to understand as well. She points me in a couple different directions.
1. Altenpflegerhelferin (Nursing Home Nurses Aid) - 1 year school/work training and then employed... salary at about 1800€ ($2400) a month gross... not bad but the idea of wiping butts all day and cleaning up messes is not my kinda thing. BUT the thing is, once you have taken this route, there is usually NO moving up the ladder. You chose it, now you work it.... forever
2. Altenpflegerin (Nursing Home Nurse) - 3 year school/work training and then employed... salary at about 3000€ ($4000) a month gross... my kinda thing with being a nurse and all it entails. There is slight improvement for moving up and possibility of making further Ausbildung for Diplom (bit better than a bachelor but under PhD) and better ability to switch from Alten to a new area (but would have to do yet ANOTHER Ausbildung and the older you get, the harder they are to find.).
So I opt for door number 2... I am qualified, I know I can do the job and the pay is decent. taxes here run at about 30-36% and that includes... income tax, social security, retirement, healthcare, unemployment, nurses insurance, aaaaaaaaaand any club fees or union fees. so I can expect to take home anywhere from 2100€-1920€ ($2800 - $2560). So..... I write the Caritas lady and tell her I am intersted in the Altenpflegerin. A little bit hopeful seeing how there is a HUGE shortage of nursing home nurses here.
*** A little behind knowledge - Ausbildungs here are very specific... you train specifically for the job in question, Once you have completed the training and tested successfully, you are qualified to work ONLY in that field. So if I take a nursing home nurse, then I am not qualified to be a labor and delivery nurse. That is a whole new class that has to be tested out after more training. ***
I get an email back letting me know in a not so friendly way that I should take door number 1 because of my age and that I need evidence of Mittelere Reife (proof of passing the 10th grade in German standards) and then I am provided a link of how to get proof, thankfully in English, along with a short 'good luck'. And then nothing since.
In short... I kinda feel assed out because I am not German born. If it was not a good option for me then why was it offered? Am I supposed to take the shitty job just because im 44 and 'not from here'?? Man... talk about bursting a bubble. WTFingF????
So I call the person in charge at the nursing home and ask what I need to do to make this happen. And sure enough, yes... I do need the proof of 10th grade AND I also need to have my level B1 German language certificate. Plus another string of red tape that I already untied myself from and needed to be able to live here.
I am really starting to identify with the aliens in the USA that take the little shit jobs just so they can have money.
THIS SHIT IS NOT EASY!
So back to square one... the step that should have been in the forefront the entire time... THE LANGUAGE ZERTIFIKÄT... without it, I can do nothing more than work as a slave in a place that caters to underpaid overworked Auslanders.... its a revolving door and one I dont want to get stuck in.
I feel like my hands are tied... my feet are bound..... and I have a gag in my mouth. I am not allowed to do anything. Ich darf nicht! I'm starting to believe I just might have a bit of a masochistic tendency! (no, not really.... cause I don't take any pleasure in this but for some reason I keep going back for more.... FML!)
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