Networking in Germany: How Nepali Students Build Professional Connections

If you are used to finding work through relatives and family friends, Germany looks more formal: written applications, structured interviews, a CV with no gaps. Underneath, a lot still rests on people having seen your work. The professor who supervised your Hiwi job, the team lead from your internship and the engineer you spoke to at a fair are the people who later recommend you or forward your CV. Networking in Germany means creating those moments on purpose, starting in your first semester.

Student-run career fairs

Some of the biggest company fairs in Germany are organised by students, and the two below are free for students:

• IKOM at TUM's Garching campus near Munich is run by about 100 student volunteers. The 2026 edition, from 22 to 25 June, listed more than 320 exhibiting companies, and entry is free for all students.
• bonding is a student association with groups in Aachen, Berlin, Braunschweig, Dresden, Erlangen-Nuernberg, Hamburg, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. Its groups run company fairs and more than a hundred free events a year, and its training programme is open to non-members.

Go with a plan. Pick five or six companies from the exhibitor list, read what they make, and prepare one specific question for each. "Does your battery testing team take Werkstudenten?" starts a better conversation than "Do you have jobs for international students?" Bring a one-page CV and write down the name of everyone you talk to.

Project teams and student groups

Hands-on student teams give you something concrete to talk about in interviews. Formula Student is the best-known example for engineers: university teams design and build a race car and compete at Formula Student Germany in Hockenheim, next from 10 to 15 August 2027. Look on your faculty website in the first weeks for similar teams in robotics, rocketry or coding.

Less glamorous but just as useful is the Fachschaft, the student council of your department. It is often the first place to hear which institutes need student assistants and which companies offer thesis topics.

Professors and Hiwi jobs

A student assistant (Hiwi) job in a research group puts you next to the people who write reference letters and who have industry partners. Ask after a tutorial or in office hours, show that you have done the course work, and name a skill you can offer, such as Python, CAD or lab experience. Our part-time jobs guide explains how Hiwi and Werkstudent jobs fit the work rules.

A Werkstudent job or a master's thesis written with a company works the same way, only inside the company. Treat it as a months-long interview: people remember who met deadlines and who asked good questions.

Professional associations

Several German professional bodies have student tiers. The VDI, the association of German engineers, offers a junior membership; current terms are on its membership pages. Check its regional groups for talks and visits open to students, where you meet working engineers outside a recruiting setting.

LinkedIn and Xing

Build a LinkedIn profile in English, and add a German headline once your German allows it. Xing, a German network, is still used by some German firms and recruiters, so a basic profile there costs you little. Keep both consistent with your CV, down to the dates.

Following up, German style

A conversation at a fair only counts if you follow it up. Within two or three days, send a short email or LinkedIn message to the person you met: say where you met, mention what you talked about, and attach your CV if they asked for it. Write with Sie and the surname unless they used du with you; our cultural adjustment guide explains the difference. Five or six sentences is plenty.

Do not ask a new contact for a job outright. Ask about their team, how they got there, or what they look for in a Werkstudent. That gives them a reason to reply, and a reason to remember you when a position opens.

Step outside the Nepali circle too

The Nepali community is a real support in the first months, and our community guide shows where to find it. But if every friend speaks Nepali, your German stalls and your professional circle stays small. Join at least one German-speaking group, even a sports club or a language tandem, before your first semester ends. When you move on to full-time applications, our job search guide takes over.