Contact with other people
A bakery would, of course, be nothing without its sales staff. They deal with customers every day. They know everything about the products in their bakery and can offer their customers comprehensive advice.
Your
future
in
Germany
An important profession
The Germans are famous for their bread all around the world. Nowhere else can you find so many different types of bread and baked goods. The bakery trade has a long, outstanding tradition, so bakers and specialist bakery salespersons are jobs with a strong future.
Pride in your work
The great thing about working in a bakery is that you can see what you’ve achieved – as a baker, when the fresh bread is sitting in the shop window for all to see, or as a specialist bakery salesperson, when everything has been sold at the end of the day.
A SECURE JOB
Fresh bread and baked goods are produced and sold every day in bakeries. Consequently, a job at a bakery is a secure job.
Modern, yet traditional
As a baker, you will learn a traditional trade. Bread has been around for thousands of years. Today, you use not just your hands, but also modern machines that will help you in your daily work.
What are the careers like?
BAKER
As a baker, you will principally work with food and have a wide variety of different tasks. The job is physically demanding and you work a lot with your hands. You can also be very creative and produce pastries and biscuits, for example.
As a baker, you are constantly moving and have somewhat different working hours to many other people. You should be passionate about what you do, as you can feel proud every day to have created something using your own hands.
SPECIALIST BAKERY SALESPERSON
As a specialist bakery salesperson, you will work in sales at the counter as well as in service. You will deal with customers every day. You should naturally enjoy dealing with people and should have a friendly, communicative approach.
You will know all about the products you’re selling and enjoy promoting them. You will maintain an overview of every situation and always be able to offer good advice to customers.
Working as a baker or specialist bakery salesperson offers you a secure, creative, fun career and great opportunities for professional development. To become a real expert, you need to learn the trade. An apprenticeship is the best way to do that.
What is an apprenticeship?
Somebody who does an apprenticeship is known as an apprentice. As an apprentice, you work in the business and go to a vocational school. You don’t do these at the same time, but alternate between the two. In Germany, this is known as the ‘dual system’.
APPRENTICESHIPS IN GERMANY
The apprenticeship programme is free of charge and lasts for three years. You will receive a monthly salary during this time. You will be paid for your work, also while in the vocational school. The business is the employer with whom you are employed and with whom you have an apprenticeship contract.
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
At the vocational school, you will learn the theory together with other apprentices. You will have lessons in various different subjects, such as business management and food science, as well as other subjects such as mathematics and English.
APPRENTICESHIP BUSINESS
You will learn the practical things at the business, or the bakery. Your trainer and your other colleagues will show you how everything works. You will learn how to prepare and produce the various baked goods. The key aspects in sales include the presentation of products and giving advice to customers.
FINAL EXAM
After three years, your apprenticeship will end with a final exam. Everything you have learned during the apprenticeship at the vocational school will be examined here. If you pass the exam, you will receive a certificate for your successfully completed apprenticeship and you will then be a skilled professional baker or bakery sales specialist. From this point forward, you will earn more money than during the apprenticeship.
CAREERS IN THE BAKERY TRADE
After you complete your apprenticeship, you will have many options open to you, as there are excellent career development opportunities. For example, you can become a baking master, manage a bakery shop or even establish your own bakery.
DO SOME PRACTICAL TRAINING
Not sure which career you like best?
If you’re not sure yet which trade you wish to learn, you can first do some practical training. When you do practical training, you work at a business for a certain period of time (from as little as two weeks or up to a maximum of six months) and gain some insight into a particular career.
During this time, you work at a bakery where you help the baker or the sales specialists. After some time, you can give advice to customers independently or bake your own bread.
Find an APPRENTICESHIP POSITION
this is important to know
Conditions
Your residence status will have a significant impact on whether you are eligible to apply for employment in Germany.
Ask your responsible government authority whether you are eligible to work or begin an apprenticeship with your current residence status. In the meantime, you can still take a look at how to find an apprenticeship. We’ll show you how to get started.
Find an apprenticeship position
Where can I look for an apprenticeship position?
Take a look online at job vacancies in the bakery trade and on job portals. Or drop in to your local job centre and enquire about job vacancies. You can also enquire directly at a bakery. Using our ‘bakery finder’ tool, you can search for bakeries offering apprenticeship positions in your vicinity.
The important thing to bear in mind is that you can look for an apprenticeship position anywhere in Germany. Where you will actually begin your apprenticeship depends on your personal status.
FURTHER CONDITIONS
- Open to all ages
- Your papers must allow you to work as an apprentice in Germany.
- Also possible without a school-leaving qualification
- Knowledge of German an advantage (but not mandatory)
Apply
To get an apprenticeship position, you need to apply at the business in question.
Get in contact with a business that is offering an apprenticeship position. In Germany, applicants generally submit an application with a cover letter, CV and, if possible, certificates.
Tips for your application
Some job portals specialise in job vacancies for refugees. Some of them allow you to create a personal profile with your applicant information, search for specific vacancies or even get some tips to help you with your application.
Further job portals
Further tips for your application
Get your certificaties and qualifications recognised
TESTIMONIALS
Amanullah Zafari
Amanullah comes from Afghanistan and has lived in Germany for three years. He also worked as a baker in his home country. Nevertheless, he is starting over with an apprenticeship. After all, many things are different in Germany, not just culturally, but when it comes to baking too.
Amanullah worked as a baker and pastry chef in Afghanistan. The 26-year-old also wanted to continue practising his profession here in Germany.
With further training, he would quickly find his way into the German art of baking, he thought. But when he discovered the variety in the local bakery, he decided to do an apprenticeship – and learn the art of German bread from scratch.
Now in his first year of training at Endorphina, he handles all the tasks at the bakery, except the oven, which is still off limits to him. Despite his previous knowledge, things went wrong on one occasion. When mixing dough, he accidentally poured ten times the amount of water into the bucket instead of the prescribed five litres. The end result was more of a soup than a dough. Although a funny oversight for both him and his colleagues, it meant he had to start all over again with making the dough.
Despite learning many new recipes here, Amanullah prefers to bake naan at home – an Afghan flatbread made from water, yeast and flour.
‘If you are in touch with people, you can learn German faster.’
His approach to applying for the job was rather unusual, and his courage and openness paid off immediately: he personally went to Endorphina and asked for an apprenticeship. This made an impression on CEO Katharina Rottmann and they spontaneously sat down for a chat. Amanullah remembers the conversation as being open and friendly. Now he is happy to be able to work in his old profession again and to learn so many new things as well.
He enjoys his work a lot and advises anyone who is interested in getting into the baking business to give it a try. ‘Everyone has their own job ideas, and you have to find out for yourself what suits you best.’
Amir Alija
Amir is 20 years old and has been living in Germany for four years. He came to Endorphina through Arrivo – a Berlin-based organisation that places refugees in local businesses, mainly in skilled trades. Their efforts help refugees to find a way into working life in Germany. They also help out companies suffering from a shortage of skilled workers in a similar way. Before joining Endorphina, Amir did an internship in a carpentry workshop. However, he quickly discovered that he was not interested in the craft.
‘I also like to bake pizza at home with my family.’
Together with his supervisor from Arrivo, he was then able to introduce himself to Katharina Rottmann’s company and immediately started another internship. Even though he had no previous baking experience in his home country of Kosovo, he thoroughly enjoys working in a bakery.
Amir is in his second year of training and is already familiar with the day-to-day routines: wash hands, put on hygiene clothing, prepare the water for the different types of dough and measure the temperature before finally making the dough. In his day-to-day work, he sometimes feels responsible for the new trainees who are in their first year of apprenticeship and helps out by answering their questions.
‘I like working as a baker. After all, everyone likes bread.’ Amir knows that after completing his training, he has made a safe career choice and has good prospects of finding a job. But he’d prefer to stay with Endorphina if given the chance. ‘We always have a lot of fun at work and laugh together every day.’
In his spare time, he also enjoys baking – preferably pizza. As a counterbalance, he goes to the gym or plays soccer with friends. He also talks about his work with them, because he is proud to be a baker. And his friends share his enthusiasm: being a baker is a good profession.
for thebakery trade Dictionaries
The basic vocabulary for employees with translations in English, Arabic, Farsi, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish can be found in these flyers.
