The German Anschreiben: Cover Letters for Werkstudent Jobs and Internships

In many countries the cover letter has quietly died. In Germany it has not. For Werkstudent positions, internships and Pflichtpraktika, the Anschreiben is often read before the CV — and a weak one gets your application closed in under a minute.

This matters financially. A Werkstudent role typically pays meaningfully more per hour than casual student work, and those roles are competitive precisely because students know it.

What the Anschreiben is for

Your Lebenslauf says what you have done. Your Anschreiben answers three questions the CV cannot:

Why this company, specifically?

Why this role, given your background?

Why now — what is your status, and when can you start?

German hiring culture values precision over enthusiasm. Warmth is fine; hyperbole is not. "I am deeply passionate about your innovative mission" reads as filler. "Your team works on battery thermal management, which was the subject of my bachelor thesis" reads as a real candidate.

Structure

Keep it to one page. Always.

Header

Your name and contact details, then the company's name, the department, and — where you can find it — the specific person. Their address goes below that, then the date.

Finding a name is worth the effort. Check the job posting, the company website, and LinkedIn. "Sehr geehrte Frau Bauer" beats "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren" every time.

Subject line (Betreff)

Bold, no "Subject:" label. Include the exact job title and any reference number from the posting:

Bewerbung als Werkstudent im Bereich Data Analytics — Kennziffer 4821

Salutation

• With a name: Sehr geehrte Frau Bauer, / Sehr geehrter Herr Bauer,
• Without: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

Paragraph 1 — why them

Skip "I am writing to apply for." They know. Open with the specific reason you chose this company. One or two sentences.

Paragraph 2 — why you

Your strongest two or three qualifications, tied directly to the posting's requirements. Do not restate your CV; interpret it. If the posting asks for Python and SQL, name the project where you used both and what came out of it.

Paragraph 3 — practical details

This is where international students win or lose the role. State clearly:

• Your current status (which degree, which semester, which university)
• Your availability — hours per week and start date
• Your German level, honestly, with the CEFR level
• Your work authorisation

That last point removes the single biggest hesitation a German employer has about hiring an international student. Non-EU students on a student visa may generally work 140 full days or 280 half days per year, and Werkstudent roles are typically capped at 20 hours per week during the lecture period. Saying this plainly shows you understand the rules. Verify the current limits for your own visa — they are set in your residence permit.

Closing

One line offering to discuss further, then:

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

[Your name]

Writing it when your German is not fluent

Be honest about your level. Claiming B2 and then failing a German phone screen ends the process badly.

• If the posting is in English, apply in English. Writing shaky German when they asked for English is not a bonus.
• If the posting is in German, apply in German even if your level is B1. It signals commitment. Say your level clearly in paragraph three.
• Never send machine-translated German unread. German business correspondence has fixed conventions, and translation tools break them in ways that are immediately obvious.

A short, correct B1 letter beats a long, wrong one.

Common mistakes

One letter sent everywhere. German recruiters spot a template instantly. At minimum, paragraph one must be genuinely specific to the company. Repeating the CV. If a sentence would fit unchanged in your Lebenslauf, cut it. Going over one page. Two-page Anschreiben get skimmed. Wrong company name. It happens constantly when applying in volume, and it is an automatic rejection. Ignoring the reference number. Larger companies route applications by it. Leaving it out can mean nobody ever sees your file. Vague availability. "Flexible" is not an answer. Give hours and a date.

A note on Pflichtpraktikum

If your degree requires a mandatory internship, say so explicitly and name the requirement. It can change how the role is treated — mandatory internships are handled differently from voluntary ones under German working-time and minimum-wage rules. Confirm the specifics with your university and the employer, and make it easy for them to see that your internship is required.

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