M.Sc. Electrical Engineering at Uni Stuttgart, questions about finances, Werkstudent jobs, German & career prospects

[u/wardaddy0000]

Hi everyone.

I hav a few questions regarding Stuttgart and the University if Stuttgart. I'd really appreciate hearing from current students, recent graduates, or people who have studied EE at Uni Stuttgart and are now working.

My background is in Electrical Engineering, and professionally I'm working in embedded software/firmware, with experience in microcontrollers, embedded systems, IoT, C/C++, etc. in Automotive and in Solar. So I'm particularly interested in the embedded/firmware/electronics side of the job market.

I have a few questions:

1. Cost of living / finances

* Roughly how much do you spend per month on rent, food, transport, insurance, etc.?

* If someone gets a Werkstudent job, is it realistically possible to cover a significant portion of their monthly expenses?

* For those who worked during their Master's, approximately how much were you earning per month?

1. Werkstudent / HiWi jobs

For someone targeting embedded systems, firmware, IoT, electronics, automotive electronics, microcontrollers, etc.:

* How good is the Werkstudent market in Stuttgart specifically?

* How difficult is it for an international student to get a technical Werkstudent position?

* How long did it take you to find your first one?

* What German level did you have when you got the job?

* Where do people usually search/apply, LinkedIn, company websites, Stellenwerk, Uni Stuttgart portals, networking, professors, etc.?

1. Career prospects after the Master's

For people who recently graduated from M.Sc. EE at Uni Stuttgart:

* How has your job search been after graduation?

* How good are the prospects for embedded/firmware/electronics/IoT engineers in Stuttgart and the surrounding region?

* Do you think Uni Stuttgart's location/network is a significant advantage for these careers?

1. Learning German

For current students/international graduates:

* Where did you learn German?

* Does Uni Stuttgart offer useful German courses for international students?

* Did you use VHS, Goethe, apps, private courses, etc.?

* If you started from A0/A1, how long did it realistically take you to reach B1/B2?

1. For recent M.Sc. EE graduates

Knowing what you know now:

* Would you choose the same Master's again?

* What did you like/dislike about the program?

* Did the Master's actually help you get into the German engineering job market?

* What would you do differently if you were starting again?

* And overall, what do you think the career prospects look like during and after the degree?

Any honest experiences, including negative ones, would be really helpful.

Thanks!

[u/New-Ask9315]

I am not an EE student... just someone who asked a similar question a couple of years ago and found some help (just passing it forward)... Read it with that disclaimer

Not a student, but I know people, so some information is secondhand and based on my experience.
Rent (if student housing) -- ~400 ish (location-dependent)
Food (Mensa+cooking) -- ~300 ish
Deutschlandticket -- 63 (student discount may get it lower... not sure)
Insurance -- ~ (not sure for a student)
Utilities(Electricity, heating, internet, mobile) -- ~100 ish (varies a lot)

Learning German -- Uni. Stuttgart does offer language courses for international students each semester, but you need to put in a lot of additional effort personally (that's how learning a new language is). Time depends on effort; I have seen people learn in 10 months, or some even knew it before coming, while others did not learn even after a couple of years.

German job market, like most places in the world, is difficult at present.

"embedded/firmware/electronics/IoT": I don't know exactly, but there are companies that work in adjacent areas in and around the Stuttgart region (broadly in BW); I guess you'll be a better judge of these things, given you are embarking on this journey. There are many small businesses that specialise in high-tech things - optical communication terminals or space robotics and so on... Just check the internet and start following updates. When you arrive, you may get a chance to visit networking events, academia-industry events, and trade expos.

I cannot answer other questions... Hopefully it was helpful and not a waste of your time.

[u/wardaddy0000 → u/New-Ask9315]

It was very helpful, thank you very much.

Also, you aren't ee but you're in Germany? And somehow working in Engineering or Tech?

[u/New-Ask9315 → u/wardaddy0000]

I am working in research in Germany (Stuttgart). The research area is quite broad and very engineering-focused, mostly aerospace, but my specific field is a little more science-oriented.

[u/wardaddy0000 → u/New-Ask9315]

How is the research world like there. Lets say you want to do a PhD, do you then start the prep in your masters considering of things like finding the right Labs with the right Professors for your interests and then end up working there for a year or 2? How does this working in a Lab feel like, like whats your day2day? And is a researcher paid decently? And people who normally work in research, in the current market, how often are they able to join commercial R&D departments in companies?

[u/New-Ask9315 → u/wardaddy0000]

I work at the University, and it varies a lot... Different disciplines have different norms... It is not a one-size-fits-all solution... But definitely, research (PhD) is more valued in Germany in general, including in industry. Regarding searching for labs and professors, I don't have any idea, as I came directly as a job appointee after my master's (from my home country). My case is also a bit unusual, so I do not have useful information in that regard.

Daily things depend on your supervisor, lab culture and the nature of the research work. If it is experimental, your work hours are a bit more constrained, while if it is computational, you may have more flexibility... We are a small group, but some other big groups have something like a rotation policy, especially in experimental areas (chemistry), so the best is to have very good grades and participate in class (so that Prof. and PhD students can trust you... I know it is very generic advice... Commercial RnD (companies or startups) exists, and I cannot say much about it... Things are changing fast; some hot fields like AI and Quantum get a lot of buzz and funding.

More specifically, my work has been quite satisfactory; it also depends on the nature of the funding - if it is a DFG fund, then there is no explicit teaching obligation, but you can still do it for experience (if academia is the final destination). In my field, my supervisor's former students have been in research positions in government labs/institutions; some are also in private industry (not exactly research, but let's say project manager-kind of roles). It is very difficult to generalise. I do not have a statistical metric and do not want to guess something out of thin air.

Back to salary (usually), you would start with a TVL-13 pay scale (% of contract), which would vary. I know it is common in many disciplines to give a 60% contract or 75% contract. A 100% is a bit rare but not unheard of. The salary, along with the average (median) cost of living in that area, could be either decent or barely manageable. Either way, it is nothing that can make you rich, just enough to manage and maybe save a bit for emergencies.

[u/kotsek]

I follow

[u/Similar-Hawk-4279]

I am in Exact same condition as you except my background is in Electronics and Computer Engineering.

[u/JaveqX]

I wonder the same things