Category: lifehack

lifehack

Insurance - An integral part of life in Germany

For students planning to study in Germany, Haftpflichtversicherung insurance is often an essential element of everyday life. It is a liability insurance that protects you in the event of damage to someone else's property or health. UniApply Germany will help you understand why you need this insurance and how to take it out.

What is liability insurance?

Haftpflichtversicherung (liability insurance) is insurance that protects you against financial costs if you cause damage to third parties. In Germany, it is a principle that a person is liable for damage caused by others. For example, you accidentally break your neighbor's window or cause injury to a third party. You will have to pay for this out of your own pocket if you do not have a Haftpflichtversicherung.

Why is this important for students?

Although liability insurance is not compulsory in Germany, it is taken out approx. 85%. For students, this is especially important because:

  1. Landlords often ask for insurance coverage. Many landlords require confirmation from the Haftpflichtversicherung, especially if you are accepted into a hostel.
  2. High Billing Defense. A small mistake, such as spilling tea on a buddy's or employer's laptop, can cost anywhere from €500 or more.
  3. Affordable cost. Haftpflichtversicherung costs only 3-5 euros per month.

How do I apply for a Haftpflichtversicherung?

  1. Research insurance offers. For example, Feather or PROTRIP.
  2. Collect the necessary documents. Sometimes your passport or other identification document is required, and in most cases no documents will be needed.
  3. Formalize the contract. Checkout is often done online and takes only a few minutes.
  4. Make sure you are comfortable with the terms. Check the amount of coverage and the cases included.
lifehack

🎲 Admission lottery.

The lottery (Losverfahren) is a way to get into a university in Germany, even if you did not qualify for the program through the main competition. The most popular lotteries are, of course, for medicine.

🧐What is a lottery?
After the end of the main enrollment, some programs have unfilled places. To allocate them, a lottery is used, where applicants are selected randomly, without taking into account their grade point average or other criteria.

📅When is the lottery taking place?
Specific deadlines depend on the university. Usually the lottery starts immediately after the main enrollment stage, in September-October for the winter semester and in March-April for the summer semester.

📝How do I apply?
1. Keep an eye out for university announcements. Information about Losverfahren is published on their official websites.
2. Submit a separate application. This is done through a special form on the university website, through the portal or by paper letter or postcard.
3. wait for the results. If you are lucky, the university will contact you directly.

🌟Why participate?
Losverfahren is a real chance to get into your desired program or prestigious university, even if you missed the main deadline or your GPA was not high enough.

lifehack

Housing transfer protocol

Why and who needs it? 🤨 Let's get to the bottom of it.

The transfer protocol (Wohnungsübergabeprotokoll) in Germany is an important document when renting or letting a property. It records the condition of the property at the time of transfer in order to prevent disputes between the tenant and the landlord.

What it should contain:
🟡 Date and place of transfer.
🟡 Appliances and furniture - the presence of appliances, furniture, meters, and number of keys is recorded.
🟡 Condition of the home - special attention is paid to damages or deficiencies.
🟡 Meter readings (usually only when renting a separate dwelling, not a room or dormitory accommodation).
🟡 Signatures of the parties - the protocol is signed by both parties (tenant and landlord) and serves as legal evidence.

A protocol helps to avoid conflicts in the future, for example, when the collateral is repaid. It is important for both parties to carefully document all aspects so that they have evidence in case of disagreements.

❕And we also recommend 🔗liability insurance, This will help avoid large expenses in the event of damage to someone else's property.

# my work, lifehack

Tips for finding a part-time job for students | part 2

💡Tips for finding a part-time job for students | part 2

Read the first part 🔗link.

Today about responding to a vacancy👇

📎 Requirements for the applicant in the vacancy
We advise responding to student jobs if you have ~50-60% of the above. The requirements for applicants are often inflated, so chances are you will be competitive.

📎 Response form
Respond to the vacancy exactly as the procedure stipulates. Attach all necessary documents. When responding by e-mail, please indicate the subject of the e-mail and the purpose of your e-mail in the e-mail.

📎 Cover letter
The cover letter should be personalized for the vacancy and should not be too long. Do not forget to design the header of the document and structure the document competently. Pay attention to who the contact person is in order to avoid common phrases in the application.

# my work, lifehack

Tips for finding a part-time job for students | part 1

📌Summary
A resume is the most important document when looking for a job. It is the resume that gives HR the first impression of job applicants, their competencies and suitability for the vacancy.

📎Content
A resume should not be overloaded. Exclude such things as stages of all Olympiads, sports sections and robotics courses at the age of ten and all information that does not reflect your personality and qualifications.
Include education, work experience, internships, volunteer work. Be sure to include your contact with a decent email address. Add soft and hard skills and your hobbies.

📎Summary length
Fit the information onto one page. If all the information is not included and you don't have 15 years of work experience under your belt, it is very likely that your resume contains a lot of irrelevant information.

📎Photo
Do not use everyday photos or selfies. If you insert a photo in your resume, make sure it is a relevant photo of good quality.

📎 Appearance
Your resume should be easy to understand visually. Use blocks of color, readable fonts, contrasting colors. Lines should start in the same place, do not use simple spaces, forming visually a table.
Take advantage of services and programs that help you create the look and feel of your resume.

lifehack

Free housing in Munich?

Elena, Sumy

Student of LMU Munich, Romance Studies and German as a foreign language

How long have you been looking for a place to live?

It took me a relatively short time to find a place to live. In Munich I lived with my sister and during my first university classes I met a girl from Ukraine who told me that she had been living under the Wohnen für Hilfe program for quite a long time. Now she lives alone in an apartment because the grandmother she lived with has moved to a boarding house for the elderly and does not need her help.

There is a separate organization in Munich that deals with this. I contacted them by phone, they asked me to fill in an application form and invited me to a meeting. At the interview I told them a little about myself and they said they would try to find something. They warned me that there were a lot of people who wanted to move in, and that it often happens that they have to move out because people don't fit together. After two months I was invited to the next interview with my grandmother, we liked each other and I agreed to live with her.

Where and with whom do you live, what conditions, what commitments do you have?

I live in the center of Munich, in the Bogenhausen district. My grandmother (82 years old) has a big apartment. She reads all day long and goes out to cafes for lunch. Also her friends come to visit her often. Before me, another student lived with my grandmother for five years.

My responsibilities include cooking dinner and grocery shopping. I cook about twice a week. Once a week a cleaning lady comes to our house, and three more times a service that helps grandmother with hygiene procedures.

I have been treated very kindly. My grandmother's son bought a new mattress for me, brought me a bicycle that I can use. I can bring guests for whom I have a separate room where they can stay overnight.

When I moved in, my grandmother smoked in the apartment, but we talked about it and now she smokes on the balcony or in my absence. I am not sure if I will be able to stay here for the whole period of my studies, as my grandmother is already old, but at the moment I am completely happy with everything and we get along very well.

Do you pay extra?

I pay an extra 100€ a month for utilities and we split the cost of buying food, which is about 200€ per person.

lifehack

sports clubs

If you want to play sports in Germany, you need to find a voluntary association for your chosen sport in your city - the Verein. It does not matter whether you are an amateur or a professional. Google your sport and -verein (Schwimmverein, Fußballverein, etc.). Organizations charge membership fees ranging from symbolic (200€/year) to high fees depending on the sport.

All students become members of the sports association Hochschulsport, Unisport (names vary from city to city) upon enrollment. Students can attend sections of this organization for free or for a token fee for elite sports such as yachting or golf. Google "Hochschulsport + your city" to find the schedule and to find out how to enroll

lifehack

Delivery supermarkets

During the pandemic, delivery supermarkets appeared and immediately gained popularity. The waiting time for an order averages 10 to 30 minutes.

  • Flink at the link 10€ discount on orders of 30€ or more.
  • Gorillas at the link 15€ discount on orders of 30€ or more.
  • Getir at the link 20€ discount on orders of 30€ or more.

The links are active. Clicking on the name of the store will take you to the installation of the application on your smartphone.

lifehack

bridge

"Bridge to German University." from the Goethe Institute is definitely stronger than the one in the picture. It allows you to enter university without having to go through the Stüdienkolleg or a year of university in your home country.

During the program, participants take the TestDaF and TestAS exams and then apply to one of the partner universities for STEM or economics majors.

Students in grades 9-11 are eligible to participate. Requirements:

  • Language knowledge A2- 9th grade, B1-10th grade, B2-11th grade
  • High academic success and high motivation to study in Germany
  • Participation in socially significant projects

Applications are due by January 31 for grades 9 and October 15 for grades 10-11.

The cost of participation in the program excluding language courses, study materials and participation in exams is 99.000 rubles.

lifehack

student housing

It's not enough to arrive, you have to settle in.
⠀
What is the housing situation for a student in Germany? Now we will talk about the big cities:
⠀
- finding a place to live is a quest, but not an entertaining one;
- If you want to rent a separate apartment, it will most likely be bare walls. There may be no furniture or kitchen;
- requirements for a tenant of an apartment look like this: annual income from 50,000 euros, reproductive age and no cat. Perhaps the cat will not be a hindrance, if the very charm😉
- the cost of a more or less decent room starts at 400 euros.

Where to look?

🏡 studentenwerke.de

You can find a Studentenwerk in your city, research accommodation options and get on the waiting list. You do not need to be enrolled in a uni at this point, your student ID will only be required when you sign a contract. This is good because the wait can be 1.5 - 2 years.
Room price: 200-400 euros
⠀
🏡 stuwo.de

These are private and church hostels. You can also ask Google like this: "private/ kirchliche Wohnheime "
The price of a room:
church 150-350 euros
private 250-700 euros
⠀
🏡 WG or Wohngemeinschaft
⠀
wg-suche.de
wg-gesucht.de
immobilienscout24.de
ebay-kleinanzeigen.de.
⠀
They're student communes. Discard the stereotypes from the Soviet past. No cockroaches, rusty bathrooms or drunken neighbors (the latter is not certain).
Usually it happens like this: some student rents a large apartment with the possibility of renting out rooms. It happens that the owner himself concludes a contract with each of the tenants. There's a lot of casting calls waiting for you. People want a roommate who is pleasant to them. In the face of high demand, you have to be prepared for rejection as well.
Room price: 200-600 euros
⠀
🏡 Wohnen für Hilfe

Search for "Wohnen für Hilfe "
This program is offered by the AstA student union. What is the program? You move into a private room in an apartment with someone who needs help. For example, an elderly person, a single parent. For a roof over your head, you help with household chores. The amount of work, as a rule, does not exceed 12 hours per month. Your financial expenses are only utility bills.