To be honest not much info besides results? I mean it seems like she is pretty positive from the interviews I have watched (so she seems like a decent person in the public’s eyes). I’m tempted to name drop but that is likely a stupid idea.
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Although I agree with the poster who says a contract protects both parties, in general, working student positions have a greater potential to harm the employee–in other words, having you work longer hours than promised, not having breaks for meals, not having days off, not being compensated adequately with lessons (even having lessons cut short), inadequately maintained living conditions, not being able to take time off if you’re sick or injured…the list goes on.
Even with a contract, there are abuses, and it’s not always designed to be nefarious–sometimes even a very accomplished professional gets overwhelmed, and it’s only natural to dump the work on the cheapest and often must willing to work-to-death young, eager employee.
I can hear your temptation in your posts to work for a big name, though!
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What do you think about the prospect of me working there for about a week just as a trial? I want to give this professional the benefit of the doubt.
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Any time I’ve gone into a situation, specifically a working student position based solely on a handshake or “trust,” it has failed epically. This includes GP level professionals with successful businesses.
Also, I think the unwillingness to discuss compensation in writing is a big, giant red flag. Unfortunately, there are professionals that take advantage of students and see students as very dispensable labor. They will often put the student in very unfair situations - demand an incredible amount of labor from the student but do not deliver the training or compensation that has been promised. It is unfortunate because it wastes the student’s time and the unpleasantness of it all can really discourage the student while the trainer suffers very little.
Unless you are local to this trainer and can easily adjust to this situation going bad, I wouldn’t consider it. I personally still would not consider a relationship with someone who is not willing to reciprocate respect towards me via agreements in writing. It shouldn’t be an expectation that you take such risks for this position. IMO, a person that operates this ways has little regard for you or your risks and will do little for you as a trainer. They will also likely put you in situations where you can be easily injured.
Worth mentioning too that sometimes the best teachers that actually care about their students and their student’s success are ones that have show experience at a high level but aren’t a big name.
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Thanks for the response, are text messages written agreements?
If you decide to do that, insist on getting paid upfront. If the person is not willing to do that, you have your answer.
Also, bear in mind that the current employee listed as a reference might be desperate to get more help in the place, so they might say anything to you that would encourage you to take the job.
Is this a German person? Or an American person who is in Germany? If it’s the latter, the odds are much higher than somebody on this BB would have some experience with them.
Good luck, whatever you decide to do. 
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German
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You’d be dealing with German contract employment law–which may be more strict than US employment law (maybe that’s what they are trying to avoid)?
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Yeah that is a possibility
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Isn’t Manni_01 in Germany now?
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Yes. Paging @manni_01
Hi! Friendly HR person here who also at one point in life did a lot of independent gigging.
tl;dr it’s not advisable to do this without a signed contract, but if you do, you need to know what your boundaries are for “this isn’t working” AND you need to be mega prepared to gtfo, sometimes without payment.
Don’t do this without a signed employment agreement–it can be very simple. I’ve seen this play out in so many different industries. It is amazing how south things go without that piece of paper.
To answer your questions, in some regards, yes, text messages can SUPPORT agreements/fill in the blanks of one–I’ve witnessed a case before where SMS was considered part of agreement between parties. But that’s in the US, and this case was quite literally into the hundreds of thousands of dollars before it got settled at long last.
This person may even be trying to avoid getting into the nitty gritty of employment law which I get, but like, you need to be aware of the risks your taking and have the quickest exit plan known to man. What are you going to do if this person doesn’t honor whatever they texted? Do you have the resources to get up and leave? Would you want to take someone to cour
Typically the types of people who act on “good faith” are not good business people generally. Their books are a mess. They usually have some type of personality disorder like narcissism. They exploit people and have high turnover rates. The ones who stay with them typically have unhealthy relationships with their CEO/boss. It’s almost stockholm-syndrome-y. They are just sucked in and unable to get themselves out.
And I want to be clear: going into these relationships, everything at surface level seems wonderful. The person seems wonderful. The job seems wonderful. Social media usually looks razzle-dazzle because the person knows to invest in marketing/PR. It’s not until you get into the gig for a couple of weeks and then start seeing what’s underneath the surface.
I state all of this less to spook the OP and more for any person out there considering verbal agreements/no paperwork for a gig, regardless of industry or location. I am very passionate about this topic; it incenses me to see people in positions of power take advantage of others.
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you also need to understand the legality of working while on a student visa and the tax liability for all your compensation, money and in-kind
plus a big red flag on the no contract and the “we work on trust” no matter how big the name
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That’d be my guess. Especially the liability of an injury while in their employment, which would be my biggest fear.
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They could be considered to be so.
My biggest concern with this position is the location. If you were local and it would not require an expensive plane ticket and moving out of the country to bail, I would be more willing to take risks. Also keep in mind that since bailing from this position is a pretty large task, you’re going to be more likely to pressure yourself to stay, even if circumstances aren’t right for you. If you can afford to hop on a plane and immediately bail and just want to spend time in the country, that might be a little different.
May I ask what is it about this trainer that makes you want to work for them?
Also, Equestrian Jobs - US and Equestrian Jobs in Europe on FB might be a good resource for you.
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But again, how do you get to the plane?
If the job is fairly rural, getting outta there without a car could be very difficult.
Unless this bnt is new and never had staff, they should have a list of references you can contact.
One ref, of the person presently there (who may be their cousin or their gf pretending to be an employee for all you know) is a red flag.
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Maybe @LowerSaxony_Jumper would be someone you could PM.
Germany does not mess around with visa stuff. My sister was almost deported after 20 years of living there because she divorced her husband and no longer had the protection of being married to a German citizen. She had to forswear any kind of government assistance for the rest of her life.
Which is to say you’re better off working schwartz if you want the experience.
If the pro had a bad reputation you could probably glean that from Facebook, right?
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Don’t do it. You are on a student visa and risk being deported and denied re-entry to the entire EU if you work illegally and this certainly sounds illegal. It is not possible in German to sneeze without paperwork.
They are cracking down hard on illegal foreign workers, which is what you would be. Don’t kid yourself you’d be treated any different than someone from any other country because you are in a more affluent position. This rider is living in the past if she thinks she can keep getting away with this.
Again: this is the biggest political topic in the entirety of Europe at the moment. You’re a foreigner, don’t get involved.
There are plenty of legitimate volunteer or legal employers in Europe to work for if your visa allows part time work.
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I know moat are US based here but Im in the EU and I would have family relatively nearby. I want to work for this trainer because I find her inspirational
even if it is an EU student visa?
