An Indian woman living in Germany has sparked conversation online after sharing how she secured a product manager role despite not knowing the local language. Taking to Instagram, Simran Khokha posted a video explaining her journey and the strategies that helped her land what she described as her dream job.
An Indian woman revealed how she landed a product manager job in Germany despite not knowing German. (Instagram/simran.khokha)
(Also read: ‘Not what Indians expect’: Indian woman in Germany explains how work culture differs)
In the video, she candidly addressed a common concern among job seekers planning to move abroad. She said, “So, I got a product manager job in Germany and I don’t even speak basic German. But this is what helped me secure my dream job. Again, this doesn’t mean that language doesn’t matter at all in Germany, and this advice doesn’t work for every single role. But this advice does work for high-skill, high-impact roles.”
She further added, “The truth is, many tech companies here operate entirely in English, especially in product, engineering, and data roles.”
Four steps that made the difference
Simran then outlined the key steps that worked for her. She explained, “Here are four steps that helped me land my dream job in Germany irrespective of the language, and this might help you too. First, revamping my LinkedIn profile and resume. So my resume included four sections. I used a clean one-page resume template from Canva and used the AI tools such as Teal and Jobscan to add at least 50% of the keywords from the job description into my resume. I used the same process for my LinkedIn.”
Talking about job applications, she said, “Second, I targeted job applications on specific portals. So I used a list of job portals to submit my applications.”
She also highlighted the importance of building connections, noting, “Third, networking. I networked at the free events and webinars organized by German universities, which are sometimes open to visitors, and they are listed by Eventbrite and Meetup.”
Finally, she revealed her outreach strategy, saying, “And fourth, so I sent cold outreach messages to relevant leaders. I used a template to reach out to the leaders in the companies I was targeting.”
Watch the clip here:
Mixed reactions from viewers
The clip has garnered several reactions online, with users sharing mixed opinions on her approach and experience. One user wrote, “This is really helpful for people who are scared of language barriers.” Another commented, “Not knowing German can still be a big challenge outside work.”
(Also read: Indian woman says she spent over €53,000 chasing a job in Germany: ‘Job offers received, 0’)
A third user said, “Great tips, especially the networking part.” Another added, “Cold outreach actually works more than people think.”
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)