Learning German and a Dream: How Sushmitha switched Bangalore for Berlin as an Architect

6 min read

I’m Sushmitha Omkar, and I am currently an architect in Munich with Limehome. I completed my Masters in Architecture from Hochschule Anhalt in 2022, after my Bachelor of Architecture in Bangalore from Acharya Institute of Technology in 2018. I spoke with Leap about my journey for their expert student series—Indians who had studied abroad recently and gotten a job—because I want to help others wanting to take the same career jump that I made.

How to prepare for studying in Germany 

I actually planned to do my Master’s even before I started working. I was in my third or fourth year when I really started to research what needed to be done, how I needed to apply, and things like that. I had help from my professors in my undergraduate college, and I had few connections here who studied in Germany at the time. 

After that I decided to work for one very important reason. I was trying to get a scholarship that needed me to have two years of work experience. So I worked for two years for RSP Design Consultants in Bangalore that did corporate architecture and interiors. 

Getting into a University

After working, I applied on Uni Assist. It’s a German government portal where you can find all the courses, not just architecture but everything from PhD to Bachelor’s. So I went ahead and started applying and got through for the winter semester in September 2020 at Hochschule Anhalt. It also in collaboration with the famous Bauhaus Dessau, which is pretty cool.

Learning German and a Dream: How Sushmitha switched Bangalore for Berlin as an Architect

Choosing Germany over other countries

There were two very important factors. One, I was influenced by people around me and my university dean, who also did his master’s from Germany. And at the time, we also had a professor from Germany who had these connections, and I got a lot more information. 

Secondly, I realised the difference in terms of cost upon. When I looked into universities in the US, UK, or Australia, they had good universities, but here is a huge cost difference between them and the universities in Germany. Also, I think in Germany, when I started, the fees were comparatively lower than what they are now because of the economic crisis during that time. So I needed 20,000 euros (20 lakh rupees)to cover my entire experience, including fees, living expenses, and everything for two years.

In the US and UK, it would easily cost 50 to 60 lakhs, and in Germany, I would cover the same in 20 lakh rupees. And I’m speaking about my time in 2020, now prices have gone up everywhere. This is mainly because of the cost of living, especially because my university was in a small town, which sort of made it easier in terms of my daily expenses and also to find an apartment.

In the US and UK, one advantage is that you’d be speaking in English, which is much easier than learning German to even get part-time jobs. You know, even the basics, like nobody is going to cut you slack for that, unfortunately. So you need to know the language to start any job, even if it’s a part-time job.

Advice on where to study

One thing that I always tell students is that architecture is not IT, which means that you cannot expect the kind of returns that people get in the IT industry. They earn four to five times more than what we earn. So that’s something that a student should keep in mind. But if they can afford it, study in an English-speaking country.

Learning German and a Dream: How Sushmitha switched Bangalore for Berlin as an Architect

Experience of studying in Germany

I had a pretty amazing experience. Two years—that’s something that I would call vacation time. I come from a big city like Bangalore with a lot of city noise and things like that, but Germany is extremely calm and people are very adaptive towards a healthy lifestyle, and I think most of Europe is like that. The university had a lot of international students, which means that we got to interact with different cultures and understand their value systems not just culturally, but also in terms of design language.

As an architect, this is also something very important—to know what is happening on the other side of the world. So for me, I got it all together in one package. 

They also have exchange programs where you can go to universities in Milan for a semester or two. So that was something many students took. I chose not to do it because I wanted to go ahead with what was here, but the chance was there. There were a lot of opportunities in terms of learning and understanding things better from a different perspective. 

Finding a job

It’s a numbers game. You need to keep applying until you find something. Also, when you have no language skills, can you really crack the interview in German? So it boils down to that.

I finished in July 2022, and I had no job until October. Now it doesn’t seem like a long time, but then because your blocked amount would be getting over soon, you have to keep on living; you have to start thinking about what you’ll do. So many students also think about doing part-time jobs in restaurants. There are a lot of other companies, and there are job agencies where you can go and find part-time jobs, but for me, luckily I was working at the university. I was a student assistant for 1.5 years, and it worked well. I could sort of maintain my expenses through this, and I was also exposed to being in the university much more than a student, so that was nice for me. 

But there was internal uncertainty, so you have to keep persevering.

Learning German

Anybody who is coming to Germany, and there are a lot of people who write to me on LinkedIn, first thing that I tell them: Be prepared. Maybe start taking classes already. If you’re serious about wanting to settle down, even for a few years, 5-8 years, you need German. And especially for my field, if I’m just talking about architecture, it’s the service industry, right? We get involved with people directly, which means you should know the language. So that’s very important.

Learning German and a Dream: How Sushmitha switched Bangalore for Berlin as an Architect

Life in Germany

I remember how things work in the industry back home in India. Just in general, the architectural industry is uptight about things, and it can be slightly toxic, and this is the same in almost all countries, all nationalities. That’s how architects work; we put in a lot of hours. You cannot expect to go home, you cannot expect to have a life. That’s a major problem. And also, the pay is worlds apart. We cannot compare that; that’s also something better here. 

There’s so much time you take from your personal life to devote to your professional life. That’s also something that I heard from somebody who was working in the US; they were overworking. That’s a very common thing that goes on there.

But in Germany, there are very strict rules, where you aren’t supposed to work after a certain hour, no matter what profession you are in. They don’t care. This pushes the idea of work-life balance.

So when I’m working, I’m fully present and doing all my work during this 6-8 hour frame, and then I’m done with it. This means I can pursue my interests, not just be professionally active, but also do the things that I actually like. 

What advice would you give students who are planning to go to Germany?

The first thing is that you have to be ready to learn the language and integrate. It is not easy to integrate within society. They are quite uptight, but they are nice once you get to know them and become friends with them.

Most people who come here are also complaining about how depressed they are. The winter depression is very, very real. And you should also have your community friends; that also makes a lot of difference. Apart from that, with all these difficulties, if you’re planning to come here, then expect a great work-life balance.

30+ Universities for Study Abroad
Education counselling
Avatar photo
Sushmitha Omkar

Architecture is lifestyle

Articles: 1

Crack IELTS with

7+ Bands in 4 weeks

Get Guidance to reach your

Dream University