I have three top 5, and the last thing I want to do is go to Cologne.
German Market
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Question: PhD and work experience abroad. Now upcoming "Verbeamtung" in Germany. Does this work experience count into the years in employment in "öffentlichen Dienst"? Relevant for pension years etc.
Depends on state rules. In my case, PhD years are counted (not as employment, but as "required education"), work experience is not. No room for negotiations on this point.
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Question: PhD and work experience abroad. Now upcoming "Verbeamtung" in Germany. Does this work experience count into the years in employment in "öffentlichen Dienst"? Relevant for pension years etc.
Depends on state rules. In my case, PhD years are counted (not as employment, but as "required education"), work experience is not. No room for negotiations on this point.
in my state phd is education and it counts. Also my years in academia in Germany and outside Germany after my phd count.
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^ This isn't something to negotiate with the university. Ultimately, the respective "Amt" of the "Land" determines your pension claim. And it is not a negotiation but a legal assessment of what can count and what cannot.
Unfortunately, they will not commit to anything when they hire you. Your pension claim will only be finally determined when you actually retire (unbelievable I know!). They may in fact decide to reduce your pension if you have claims from another country, to avoid that you are "überversorgt" (I am not kidding). Before that, you can only ask the "Amt" to make an assessment of how many years they may count for your pension, but it is not binding and takes a long time.
You should get in contact with the Hochschulverband and the advice they offer on negotiations. They also have experts who advice you on pension claims.
What you can negotiate, though, is how much of your salary is "Ruhegehaltsfähig". In principle that is only the base salary but you can get an upgrade to 122% , 139% or 157% of that (or some numbers close to this, there are three categories I think). This is negotiable with the university.
Good luck...