Set a start date on your German job application

Put a real date on your German hospital application. Do this even before your license arrives.

A chief reads an open start date as not ready yet, call back later. A real date reads as this doctor already knows their own process.

Why the date matters more than the license

A hospital builds its rota months in advance. The person hiring for an internal medicine post needs to know which month a chair opens.

A blank field, or "after my Approbation", forces HR to guess. Most foreign applications with no date get put at the bottom of the pile.

What date do you actually write?

You do not need the license in hand. You need your own stage, and a realistic gap after it.

1. Find your stage: knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung) booked, or temporary work permit (Berufserlaubnis) applied for.
2. Add the office's usual timing: it must confirm your file within 1 month, and decide within 4 months once the file is complete.
3. Add your state's exam wait if that is what you are waiting on. In Bavaria, the knowledge exam route grew from 6 to 21 months.
4. Pick a calendar month 2 to 3 months past that point, and write it as a date, not a condition.

What this looks like on paper

Weak: Start date: after receiving my Approbation. That tells a chief nothing he can plan around.

Fixed: Start date: 01.09.2026, pending my temporary work permit (Berufserlaubnis); knowledge exam booked for 06.2026. Now he can put you on next autumn's rota.

Does this work without your permit in hand?

Yes. A temporary work permit (Berufserlaubnis) lets you work as a doctor for up to 2 years in total.

Hospitals hire against the date it is expected. They do not wait for the date it is signed.

The medical language exam (Fachsprachprüfung) is one 60-minute exam in 3 parts. Once you book it, that date is fixed.

Use that exam date to build your own start date.

Before you send the next application

• Write your own stage down: exam date, or permit application date.
• Add 2 to 3 months for the office to decide, and write a real calendar date from it.
• Put that date in the first paragraph of your cover letter, not buried at the end.
• Drop the phrase "after my Approbation" from every application you send this week.

Stand: 2026-10-24. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.