working in germany

Hi all,

I have recently moved to Germany with my wife, who is a native German from Ettlingen. We will be moving to Durlach in about 3 weeks after crashing at the in-laws for a couple months. My wife found a job rather quickly (of course), however it has been a struggle for me.

I have the necessary work & residence permits. What I do not have is the knowledge of where to look. My German is basic and probably not good enough yet to claim "fluent" in any applications or interviews. I have been researching and apparently this is a bigger negative than I was originally told.

I have been working as an analyst for a defense contractor supporting Dept. of Defense and Navy programs for the last six years. I have a Business Mgmt. degree and excellent references. I have been checking out the military bases, particularly Heidelberg but have not really been getting anywhere. I would prefer a private company, however.

Would anyone have any advice on where to look? A lot of the companies I research are in German. I figure if I cannot read the website, I probably do not have much of a chance there.

Sorry this has been so long. Just really want to get working. Too much idle time is driving me crazy! Thanks very much!

Mike