The obvious way is to look for announced positions on online job boards. So you can get an idea about which company offers which kind of jobs at the moment.
However, there might be other companies, too. For example, there are medium and small-size companies which has not the money to advertise on big job boards or prefer other channels for advertising such as regional newspapers. Or some companies might be interesting, but are not offering jobs at the moment. To find out about potential employers not easily to find, it is worth to look for portals on which companies are introduced for different reasons.
For example, some portals provide regional information about existing companies to give insight in the industry of specific region or in specific sectors. For example, you can find information about the TOP 100 companies in Lower Saxony on the web.
Moreover, there are existing a lot of regional networks. For example, in the field of biotechnology, there exists the association BIO Deutschland, a roof of regional networks of companies and institutions working in the biotechnology or life sciences sector, too. Those regional networks offer different services, including for example networking events. The list of members of this association includes a couple of companies and institutions which might be potential employers for you, too. You may find those networks for other branches, too.
Another example is the German Life Science Association (Deutsch: Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin (VBIO e.V.)) which is a roof for different societies in the life sciences as well as individual members. Becoming individual member includes, among others, getting their member magazine as well as access to counseling regarding further education and career. The association is also offering workshops and “schools” for junior researchers.
Finally, career and trade fairs are worth a visit for getting ideas about potential employers. Some career and trade fair in 2015 you can find in another post on this blog.
