What to do after graduating in Luxembourg, the complete guide

Plan ahead during your last months at university

The biggest mistake we see is waiting until you have the diploma in hand before you start moving. A job search in Luxembourg takes several months on average, and administrative procedures only kick in once you've formally registered with the ADEM.

Concretely, two to three months before you finish your studies, you can already update your CV and LinkedIn, even if your diploma is still listed as "in progress". The ADEM publishes an official CV guide that reflects the standards expected in Luxembourg, especially regarding the languages section, which matters a lot here.

You can also start doing the rounds of recruitment fairs held every year. Unicareers, hosted at Luxexpo, is the biggest fair dedicated to students and young professionals. The Moovijob Day and the Career Day at the University of Luxembourg round out the trio. These events aren't just for "looking around", they're for dropping off your CV and landing interviews right away.

Finally, if you haven't done a company internship during your studies yet, it's not too late. A voluntary internship can be open to people who hold a Luxembourg secondary school leaving certificate or equivalent, or who have successfully completed a first cycle of higher education, such as a Bachelor, for up to six months within the same company over a two-year period. It's often the fastest route to a first permanent contract.

Registering with the ADEM, the step that unlocks everything

The Agence pour le développement de l'emploi (ADEM) is a must. Even if you're super motivated to search on your own via LinkedIn and already have interviews lined up, register anyway. No ADEM registration means no unemployment benefit, no Youth Guarantee, no access to the official JobBoard and no assigned advisor.

Who can register

Registration is open to any young person who has just finished their studies or training, provided they live in Luxembourg and are available for work. Whether you have a Bachelor, Master, PhD, or you dropped out along the way, the benefit conditions vary by case, but registration itself is possible for everyone.

On the language side, you need to be able to communicate in French, German, Luxembourgish or English. If that's not the case, you can come with a trusted person who speaks one of these languages.

How to register online

The fastest way is 100% online registration via MyGuichet.lu (ouvre dans un nouvel onglet). You need a LuxTrust certificate or an electronic identity card (eID) to authenticate your application. If you don't yet have a private workspace on MyGuichet, plan about thirty minutes to create one before starting the registration itself.

The platform guides you step by step, you can pause and resume the process anytime, and it pre-fills certain fields if your private workspace already has your information.

How to register in person

If you prefer face-to-face or if you're struggling with LuxTrust, call the ADEM Contact Center at (+352) 247 88 888 to schedule an appointment at the agency nearest to your home. You'll find them in Luxembourg-Hamm, Esch-Belval, Diekirch, Differdange, Wasserbillig and Wiltz.

Documents to prepare

Whether you go online or in person, prepare the following:

• your social security card with the 13-digit Luxembourg matricule
• your ID card or passport still valid
• your diploma or graduation certificate
• your up-to-date CV

What happens next

Once your registration is accepted, the ADEM will invite you to a first meeting with a referent advisor. This is your main point of contact throughout the process. You'll also receive a series of forms to fill in, including the unemployment benefit application if you're eligible. The ADEM sends you your JobBoard login, the internal platform that centralizes a large share of the country's job openings.

Youth unemployment benefits after graduation

This is the question that comes up most often: am I entitled to unemployment benefits after graduating? The answer is yes under certain conditions, and the mechanism is stricter than people think.

Eligibility conditions

To qualify for full unemployment benefits, you must live in Luxembourg, be between 16 and 28 years old depending on your qualification level, be fit for work and available on the labour market, and be registered as a jobseeker with the ADEM. You also need to be willing to accept any suitable job, based on criteria of pay, commute and working conditions defined by grand-ducal regulation.

The age considered is the one on the day of your registration with the ADEM, not the one at the end of your studies. Important if you procrastinate.

The details by qualification

The age limit and the waiting period vary by background. Here is the official table:

In plain terms, if you graduate with a Master's and are under 28, you're eligible, but you have to wait 26 weeks after registration before the first payment lands. These six months are not a punishment, they're an integration period during which you and the ADEM actively look for a role.

Amount and duration

The benefit is set at 70% of the social minimum wage for young graduates, and 40% for 16-17 year olds or those who failed their apprenticeship exam. If you have one or more dependent children, the rate is increased by 5%. Benefits follow the Luxembourg index, so they're automatically revalued when indexation kicks in.

The maximum duration is 12 months. Beyond that, if you still haven't found a job, other support mechanisms may take over depending on your situation, notably the social inclusion income (REVIS) or ADEM training programs.

What can cost you your benefit

The ADEM can suspend or withdraw your rights if you unjustifiably refuse a suitable job, if you refuse to attend assigned internships or training, or if you miss an appointment without a valid reason. Sanctions range from 7 days of lost rights to full removal from the list in case of repeated violations or false declarations.

The Youth Guarantee, your safety net

The Youth Guarantee is a European measure rolled out in Luxembourg that promises you personalized support if you're young and in transition. Heads up: it is not a job guarantee, it's a support guarantee.

Who it's for

All young people aged 16 to 29 can benefit, whether you've finished your apprenticeship or not, earned your Master's or dropped out midway, or are unemployed or without an occupation. The scheme is run by three coordinated actors: the ADEM for professional integration, the Antenne locale pour jeunes (ALJ) of the Vocational Training Service for those who left school early, and the Service national de la jeunesse (SNJ) for orientation and volunteering.

What it does for you concretely

Within four months of your registration, your advisor must offer you a suitable solution: a job, an apprenticeship, an internship, a training course, a qualification procedure or a volunteering activity. The goal is to keep you from being stuck "in between" with no safety net.

Depending on your profile, several measures can kick in:

• the Employment Initiation Contract (CIE), which places you with an employer for 12 months, with pay at 130% of the unqualified social minimum wage if you hold a BTS, Bachelor or Master
• a qualifying training course aligned with the needs of a sector that's hiring
• a volunteer service lasting up to 12 months if you're not yet set on your career path
• an orientation support via the ADEM-OP service at the Maison de l'orientation

What you need to know

The Youth Guarantee does not stop after four months if you haven't found a solution yet. It continues as long as you and your advisor haven't identified the right way forward. The idea is that even a "detour" through an internship or training is a useful step, not a failure.

Finding your first job in Luxembourg

Now that we've covered the admin basics, let's talk about what actually matters to you: where to look and what to expect.

The sectors hiring the most young graduates

Contrary to the cliché of finance dominating everything, the landscape is more diverse. According to the Moovijob job board, several sectors stand out for junior profiles with up to two years of experience:

• Healthcare, medical, social: about 300 openings for beginners
• Construction and public works: about 300 openings, leading overall volume
• Banking, insurance, financial services, audit, accounting: over 40% of openings accessible to juniors
• Mechanics, electricity, automation: more than 250 roles for beginners
• IT: over 35% of openings accessible to juniors, about half of them in development

Demand for Master's degrees has eased over recent years in favor of Bachelors, which now account for close to 28% of openings, according to the 2025 trends published by Moovijob.

Salaries to expect

Entry-level pay ranges vary massively by sector. Here are indicative brackets for a young graduate, drawn from the Hays annual study:

• Banking and financial services: €45,000 to €55,000 gross annual
• Finance and accounting: €37,000 to €58,000
• Industry and engineering: €38,000 to €50,000
• Architecture and design offices: €33,000 to €48,000
• Building and civil works: €37,000 to €48,000
• Real estate: €37,000 to €46,000
• Electrical and HVAC engineering: €35,000 to €45,000

These figures are orders of magnitude; the actual number depends on company size, specialization and your languages.

The languages that really count

This is the make-or-break factor in Luxembourg. Based on Moovijob listings in 2025:

• French: required in over 70% of listings
• German: 27%, growing fast (overtook English in September 2025)
• English: 24%
• Luxembourgish: a bit over 10%, especially in healthcare and public administration

If you have two of these four languages at a solid level, you already unlock most of the market. If you only have French, you close yourself off from industrial sectors and part of the civil service.

Where to apply concretely

The four platforms you need to be on:

1. The ADEM JobBoard, accessible once your registration is validated, which centralizes vacancies declared by Luxembourg employers
2. Moovijob, the leading private job board in Luxembourg
3. LinkedIn, where most recruiters post and hunt
4. Govjobs.lu for the Luxembourg civil service, and jobs.europa.eu (ouvre dans un nouvel onglet) for the European institutions based in Luxembourg

Add to that spontaneous applications directly on the career sites of the companies you target, and word of mouth through your student contacts and former internships.

Alternatives to direct employment

Salaried employment isn't the only path. If you're hesitant, want to breathe, or looking to enrich your CV before diving in, several doors remain open.

Continuing with a Master's or PhD

If you graduate with a Bachelor, a Master's can change your employability, especially in sectors that now require one. If you already have a Master's, a PhD is an option in academic research or certain R&D roles in industry. The University of Luxembourg offers a wide range of Masters, and you keep access to CEDIES financial aid under certain conditions.

The volunteer service

The Service national de la jeunesse (SNJ) manages several volunteer service formats. You can go for 2 to 12 months in Luxembourg, in another European country, or internationally, on missions of public interest (environment, social, culture, education). You are housed, fed, and you receive a monthly allowance. It's a useful option to clarify your career project, take a step back after intense studies, or build a differentiating experience.

The post-graduation voluntary internship

People who have successfully completed a first cycle of higher education, such as a Bachelor, can do a voluntary internship of up to six months within the same company over a two-year period. For an internship of 4 to 12 weeks, pay is set at 40% of the social minimum wage, and for an internship of 12 to 26 weeks, it rises to 75% of the social minimum wage. If you hold a Bachelor, the qualified minimum wage applies. Note: a voluntary internship after a Master's, without being enrolled in an educational institution, is no longer possible in the civil service.

The gap year or mobility

Nothing says you have to go study-then-work without a break. Traveling, doing a WHV (Working Holiday Visa) in Australia, Canada or Japan, or heading out for a professional Erasmus in another European country are all legitimate options. The one thing to watch: your Luxembourg social security affiliation lapses during your absence, so take out travel insurance or expat coverage.

Admin tasks not to forget

Beyond the ADEM and the job search, several small steps fly under the radar and can cost you if you forget them.

Social security

While you study, you're generally covered by student insurance via your parents or via the CNS as a student. As soon as you finish your studies, that coverage ends. If you register with the ADEM and receive an unemployment benefit, you're automatically covered by the CNS. If you find a job, your employer registers you with the Centre commun de la sécurité sociale (CCSS). But between the two, there can be a gap. Check your situation with the CNS to avoid being without health insurance for a few weeks.

Recognition of a foreign diploma

If you studied in Belgium or the Netherlands, your Bachelor or Master diploma is automatically recognized in Luxembourg via the Benelux convention. If you studied in France, Germany or elsewhere, recognition is not automatic, barring a specific agreement. To access some regulated professions (health, teaching, liberal professions) or the Luxembourg civil service, you'll need to go through a recognition procedure with the Ministry of Higher Education (registration in the register of qualification titles) or the Ministry of National Education depending on the profession. Allow several weeks.

Taxation

Your first year of declarable income in Luxembourg triggers your tax obligation. If you start a salaried job, you're in tax class 1 (single without children) by default, and withholding happens automatically via your tax card. If you only receive youth unemployment, your benefits are also taxable but withholdings are limited. Your first tax return will come the following year.

Housing

If you leave a student accommodation (university residence, kot in Belgium, flatshare in Esch, etc.), check your notice period and the deposit return date. If you're hunting for housing at your new job, keep in mind the Luxembourg market is tight: plan for at least two months of deposit, and know that certain housing aids exist for young workers (rent subsidy, state rental guarantee).