Job offer ranking: Where students can best earn some extra money

Many students need to earn some extra money to cover their basic costs. If there are additional expenses, such as a new laptop or simply a coffee in the canteen, students will sooner or later have to rely on part-time jobs. A recent study by the private business school Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) shows where the most jobs are available and where the most money can be earned. To this end, the job opportunities for students in the ten largest university cities in Germany were analysed using the jobmensa.de job platform.

Cologne is the leader in job offers

Carnival and Kölsch – that’s what Cologne stands for. But the cathedral city is also one of Germany’s university strongholds and rightly so: with 234 job offers for students, Cologne is in first place in the ranking. It is closely followed by the Bavarian capital of Munich (227 jobs) and the capital Berlin (175 jobs), which are in second and third place respectively. Aachen is in last place, with just 15 job offers. Münster (eighth place; 48 jobs) and Bochum (ninth place; 26 jobs) occupy the penultimate places. However, when looking at the number of students in Germany’s ten largest university cities, an uneven distribution emerges: more than 900,000 young people are currently studying in the cities analysed, but only 1,145 vacancies were advertised on the job platform at the time of the study. Excluding other job platforms, this means that there would be around 800 students for every job.

Find the best paid jobs in technical support

Of the total of 1,145 job offers, just over half – around 54 per cent (616 jobs) – are above the statutory minimum wage of 12 euros per hour, while around 44 per cent (498 jobs) of the offers state that they are paid on a negotiated basis.  Students with an affinity for technology have the best chances of finding a well-paid part-time job. With an hourly wage of up to 36 euros, freelance jobs in technical support are among the best-paid jobs in the ranking.  However, talented linguists can also earn good additional income as interpreters (33 euros/hour). There are more and more job offers in Hamburg in particular. If you are looking for a more unusual job and enjoy solving puzzles, you are on the right track with a job as a game director.  With an hourly wage of up to 22.50 euros, it is the third best-paid job offer.

At the lower end of the scale, there are positions for working students in HR or marketing in Berlin, for example, which only pay the minimum wage. There is slightly more for working students in content management or as temporary staff in retail (12.50 euros). On average, students in the ten largest university cities earn 17.24 euros per hour. Wages are highest in Bochum, where the average hourly salary is 21.21 euros. Students earn the least on average in Aachen (15.08 euros per hour).

Prof Dr Kyriakos Kouveliotis, Provost & Chief Academic Officer of the BSBI, comments on the analysis: “A part-time job is part of everyday life for many students today. Our analysis shows that most offers are only just above the minimum wage and well-paid jobs are few and far between. However, in addition to remuneration, learning practical skills often plays a role for students, for example when choosing a working student job. This is an opportunity for companies to find and retain future specialists and managers. It is also important that companies offer students relevant experience and skills for their future career path. We are already moulding talented specialists and managers here.”

Here you will find the data in graphical form: Job offer and Bestpaid jobs.

Further information can be found on the website of the business school.

About the study

The Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) analysed the job offers on the jobmensa.de platform in the ten largest German university cities of Aachen, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Bochum, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Münster. Only job offers in the immediate vicinity of the cities were analysed. The status of the analysis is 15 November 2023.

About the Berlin School of Business and Innovation

The Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) is a private business school with headquarters in Berlin and locations in Paris, Athens, Hamburg and Barcelona. Since its opening in spring 2018, it has been offering its students English-language Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in the fields of business administration, marketing, finance, tourism and hospitality event management. The programme combines blended learning with traditional teaching and is attended by more than 5,400 students and around 2,000 alumni from 104 countries. To ensure the international orientation of the school, BSBI cooperates with various academic partners and is registered as an Erasmus+ organisation. BSBI is also part of GUS Germany GmbH (GGG), a dynamic network of higher education institutions with more than 15,000 students at locations in Germany, Europe and beyond. You can also find up-to-date information about BSBI on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.