Job Hunting for the Accompanying Partner: ADEM and the Practicalities

Registering with ADEM

ADEM (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi) is Luxembourg's public employment agency, and registering as a jobseeker is the starting point for almost every form of organised job search here, even for people who intend to find work mainly through networking or direct applications. Registration can be completed online, including in English, and gives access to ADEM's job database, counselling appointments and, for eligible profiles, targeted programmes for people newly arrived from abroad.

According to ADEM, anyone who wants to work in Luxembourg and is not already employed can register as a jobseeker, whether or not they currently live in the country, though the services and any unemployment-related entitlements that come with registration depend on your residence and work history. For a partner who has just moved and has no Luxembourg employment record, registration is mainly useful for the job-matching database, the CV and interview support, and access to counsellors who know the local market, rather than for financial benefits.

Work rights for non-EU partners

For EU/EEA citizens, there is no separate authorisation needed to work in Luxembourg; the right to work comes with the right of free movement. The situation is different, and worth checking carefully, for the partner of a non-EU (third-country) worker.

According to Guichet.lu, a third-country national who holds a residence permit as the family member of a worker or resident in Luxembourg is authorised to work without needing to apply for a separate work permit. Since 1 September 2023, family member residence permits carry free access to the labour market, which removed restrictions that had previously applied to some categories of permit. In practice this means that once the accompanying partner has received their own residence permit as a family member, rather than only a visa or temporary authorisation, they should be free to take up employment on the strength of that document. Because immigration rules and administrative practice can change, and because the exact permit type matters, confirm your own situation with the Immigration Directorate or through Guichet.lu before assuming you are cleared to start work, particularly if you arrived on a temporary authorisation to stay and are still waiting for the residence permit itself.

Building a Luxembourg-ready CV

Luxembourg's job market takes cues from several neighbouring traditions, and CVs here tend to be closer to the French and Belgian style than to a typical British or American one.

• One to two pages, concise, with a clear chronology.
• Language skills listed explicitly, ideally with an honest CEFR level (A2, B1, and so on) for French, German, Luxembourgish and English, since language mix is often the first filter recruiters apply. Our guide to the languages of Luxembourg explains which combinations matter in which sectors.
• A photo is still common on CVs submitted locally, though it is optional and increasingly seen as old-fashioned in international firms; follow the norm of the sector you are targeting.
• A short, specific covering letter in the language of the job advert, rather than a generic template, is taken seriously in more traditional sectors and by public-sector employers.

Finance, the EU institutions, consultancy and technology tend to recruit in English and accept an international CV format; law, healthcare, the public sector and most client-facing local businesses expect French, and often a French-style CV structure.

Recognition of foreign diplomas

If your profession requires a specific qualification, particularly a regulated profession such as teaching, healthcare, law or some engineering roles, your foreign diploma may need to go through an official recognition procedure before you can practise, rather than simply being listed on a CV. Luxembourg's Ministry of Higher Education and Research handles academic recognition of foreign degrees, and Guichet.lu separately describes the process for professional recognition of qualifications needed to access a regulated profession. Start this process early: assembling certified copies, translations and sometimes course transcripts from a previous country can take weeks, and for some professions the recognition procedure itself takes months. For roles that are not regulated, most private employers will assess a foreign degree on its own merits without a formal recognition step, but it rarely hurts to have transcripts translated in advance in case an employer asks.

Where the vacancies actually are

ADEM's own portal lists vacancies registered by employers, and is worth checking regularly, but the most active recruiting in Luxembourg's larger international sectors, finance, funds, technology and consultancy, happens as much through recruitment agencies and direct company applications as through the public portal. Several private job boards focused on the Luxembourg and Greater Region market complement ADEM's listings, and LinkedIn is heavily used locally for both networking and direct applications, more so than in some larger countries where it plays a smaller role. If your sector has a professional association or chamber, for example in finance, law or a specific trade, their own site or newsletter is often where niche vacancies appear first.

Networking in a small country

Luxembourg's international workforce is large relative to the population, and word of mouth carries weight here more than it does in bigger job markets. Employer information evenings, chamber of commerce events, alumni groups from the many nationalities represented in the country, and informal groups for accompanying partners all exist and are worth seeking out in your first weeks. Many partners find that their first Luxembourg role comes through a personal introduction rather than a cold application, which is one more reason to treat the first few months as a period for building a local network alongside the formal search.

Our take

An accompanying partner's job search in Luxembourg is very workable, given the size of the international employment market, but it benefits from an early, organised start: register with ADEM soon after arrival, confirm your work authorisation status if you are a non-EU family member, and begin any diploma recognition procedure in parallel with the job search rather than after it. If housing and commute are part of the planning, our neighbourhood guides and current listings can help you choose a base that keeps both partners' work options open, or contact us if you would like tailored suggestions.

This article gives general practical information and is not legal or tax advice. Procedures, amounts and deadlines change; check the current rules on guichet.lu or with the administration concerned.