This summer I was looking for a flat share in Mannheim: Personalized cover letters, job interviews and hobby psychological analyzes, slimes and stupid questions, the whole process moves between masterful professionalism and chaotic student stink.
It's actually fun to watch, unless you're looking for a room, then it's an ordeal.
One bright spot is speed.
If things go well, the search only takes a few days, then the strain and suffering are intense but quickly over.
The best way to find a room in a shared apartment is via the platform wg-gesucht.de. WGs with free rooms introduce themselves there, you apply yourself with a personal cover letter, which should be as great and crisp as possible. Then you either don't hear anything or get an invitation to an interview, which youth jargon elevates to flat-sharing community casting. In my case, I contacted thirteen shared apartments, was invited to eight auditions, and at the end of the day I got an acceptance. I live there now. It all took ten days and took place a month before the move-in date. The flat share market is brisk - and selective. One acceptance out of thirteen inquiries corresponds to a meager success rate of 8 percent. That means a lot helps a lot. The more annoying flat share castings you diligently complete, the better.Of course, one should strictly preselect who to write to, but the advertisements only give a modest impression of the actual situation. Every WG casting is a grab in the lucky bag.
For example, there was this one ad that sounded terrific.
There was talk of unicorns, coffee gossip and cooking evenings, but the opposite turned out to be the case when we visited the flat share.
Tensions dominated the room, the ad text was wishful thinking.
Or that apartment in a prime location that turned out to be a doll's house with a guarantee of depression when you entered.
Its two residents lived in tiny rooms in which they indulged in strange hobbies, such as the lonely night dancing from YouTube videos.
They mistook a shared apartment for a princess realm;
one commanded the other.
Anyone who notices this during a one-hour flat-share conversation should run away as quickly as possible.
Massive meat inspection
Incidentally, the doll's house had the (!) Indicator that reliably indicates a horror flat share: bolted room doors. Where doors are always closed, community cannot take place. Everyone lives here for himself and tries not to reveal anything about himself to the others. If you find that likeable, you should consider moving into your own apartment. Firstly, you can always hear your roommates, and secondly, you share the bathroom and kitchen. Playing hide and seek in an apartment cannot be won, it is just uncomfortable.