Foreign Trade/International Management

Graduates of this degree course find roles in major companies and organisations in Germany and beyond, wherever having a business background with an international emphasis matters. They work across sectors and corporate functions, often either in specialist roles leading on projects and specific tasks or as coordinators with budget responsibility and strong all-round skills. They are also highly flexible in their thinking and actions.

Areas of work might include:

• International financing and management accounting
• Project management and product line responsibility in marketing departments of businesses in the domestic and international production, trade, retail and service sectors
• Organisational, HR and HR development roles
• Management and business consulting
• International logistics

This course’s seminar-based classes promote active student participation. A significant share of the teaching takes place in English.

During the first to fourth semesters of the course, students acquire a grounding in business and economics, including marketing, production, investment, financing, accounting, economics, law, business IT, mathematics and quantitative methods such as statistics. During this period, students successively gain competencies in specific subjects such as international finance and international marketing, alongside cultural studies, social sciences, and international economics.

In their fifth semester, students undertake an international internship in line with their chosen focal area. There follows a period, in semesters 6 and 7, of in-depth study of this specialism and a Bachelor thesis, the completion of which concludes the course.

For this degree course, you should have a keen interest in business and economics in an international context, as well as good general knowledge and proficiency in spoken and written English. You’ll get the most out of the course if you’re interested in maths and quantitative methods like statistics and are a self-starter with strong interpersonal skills who enjoys working in small groups.

Interested – but not quite sure yet whether this is the right course for you? Our self-assessment test can help you make up your mind. Take it here: HAW Navigator.

Higher education entrance qualification 

You can apply directly for this course if you hold one of the following qualifications:

• Fachhochschulreife
• Allgemeine Hochschulreife  
• Fachgebundene Hochschulreife (subject-specific HE entrance qualification)
• Meister_in (vocational qualification – master tradesperson)
• Fachwirt_in (certified specialist)

Applicants who do not hold a higher education entrance qualification but have completed vocational training (Berufsausbildung) and at least three years of subsequent work experience can apply under Section 38 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act, which sets out special provisions for these applicants (Besonderer Hochschulzugang für Berufstätige).

Find out more at Admission requirements for a Bachelor's degree.

You will additionally need to demonstrate proficiency in the English language in order to be accepted on the course. You can do this in one of the following ways:

1. If you have a German Fachhochschulreife, you need to have the final English grade ‘sehr gut’ (min. 14 points) to demonstrate proficiency; if you have an allgemeine Hochschulreife (Abitur), your final English grade needs to be at least ‘gut’ (min. 11 points). If your certificate of qualification (Zeugnis) does not contain a final grade for English, the same minimum grades apply to the grade average of the partial English grades listed in your Zeugnis. If you took an examination in English, this will count for 50% of this grade average.
2. Alternatively, you can present proof of having passed one of the following recognised language tests at level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
   • A valid TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language - Internet-based test), minimum score: 83
   • IELTS (International English Language Testing System – Academic Training), minimum score: 6
   • University of Cambridge ESOL Examination (General English):
   • FCE (First Certificate in English): grade A-C
   • CAE (Certificate in Advanced English): grade A-C, minimum score: 45
   • CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English): grade A-C minimum score: 45
3. A third alternative is presenting proof of achievements gained abroad which show the required proficiency level. This must be either:
   • a higher education entrance qualification attained at a school in an English-speaking country; or
   • proof of having spent at least two years studying successfully at a higher education institution in an English-speaking country

Pre-course experience

We do not require you to have completed pre-course experience for this course. Experience shows, however, that you are likely to find it easier to access the course content if you have previously gained some practical experience in a setting appropriate to the field.

International applicants

If you completed your schooling outside Germany and want to study here for a Bachelor’s degree, you need to hold an academic school-leaving qualification which entitles you to admission to higher education; that is, it needs to be comparable to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. The organisation uni assist will check your certificates from school and any degree-level studies to establish comparability.
You can find details of HAW Hamburg’s application criteria at International applicants.