I have been working in corporate recruiting for multinational corporations in Germany for many years now. Germany is currently suffering from the so called “war for talent”. The labour market especially needs highly qualified professionals and graduates from abroad in order to fill high profile job vacancies here. On the plus side Germany is an attractive country. Living as well as working conditions are excellent. Particularly families with children will love it here since they are choosing a safe environment. The employment regulations e.g. social security in terms of health care and holidays, just to name a few, contribute to Germany being an enjoyable working environment. German Companies are often hidden champions in their sector offering attractive jobs developing cutting edge products for global markets. So we are talking about a clear win-win situation for employee and employer if they find each other. Nevertheless real life oftentimes is different from theory. Expats and foreign graduates are rather frequently facing difficulties applying for jobs in Germany. Therefore, this special edition of the “Corporate Recruiting White Paper” is written in English. I want to provide expats and foreign graduates with useful advice in order to make their application for jobs in Germany a successful endeavour. I have conducted around 5,000 telephone interviews, face to face interviews, as well as candidate pitches. During my career as a business manager in the IT industry, Partner of an Executive Search firm and as Corporate Recruiter and Recruiting Advisor at GE, SAP, CSC, Dassault Systemes and many more. I have seen many expat’s application documents which did not meet the formal requirements and therefore maybe reduced their chances to be invited to an interview. It is a shame if candidates miss out good job opportunities just because they do not know how to present themselves appropriately. This miniseries in English includes three issues. Part one starts with cultural specifics to be aware of.
I will use the term (corporate) recruiter in this blog. A recruiter is no headhunter though! Recruiter are part of the HR department of a hiring company. They are often full time employees and responisble to fill vacant positions in their company only. The recruiter is the first person who screens job applications and he is an important gate keeper. He decides if your application passes this first gate or if you receive an automatic rejection e-mail. Recruiter need to manage a high volume of applications every day. Therefore they decide very quickly if your application passes or not. This takes only 10 seconds up to one minute. Thus job seekers better ensure to provide excellent application documents which meet both formal as well as „cultural“ requirements. Here are some bullet points which will be helpful in order to improve your success rate when you apply for jobs in Germany.
- Learn how to speak German
Well, it is a fact that many cool jobs in Germany are offered by companies which are operating on a global level. Most of these jobs are offered by SME (small medium enterprise) firms which are hidden champions in their niche market. Excellent English language skills are therefore often a must have. Many expats are able to fulfil this requirement easily. But English is just a basic requirement to be honest and it may not be enough to succeed in the application process. It is also important to learn German although the working language may be English. But why do even global players prefer to hire candidates who are able to speak the local language as well? The reason for this requirement might not be obvious at first sight. But let me tell you about something I have experienced: I had been working as a corporate recruiter at a small subsidiary of a giant multinational corporation. This subsidiary was based in a small city in the south of Germany and we were seeking software engineers to develop cutting edge clinical healthcare applications. Since the team was multicultural the working language was of course English. Theoretically, it would be good enough to hire candidates who solely spoke English. Practically though, it would have been not good enough for us. We had made bad experiences in the past hiring candidates who did not speak German at all. The reason for that was quite obvisous: many of these excellent but not German speaking employees have left the subsidiary after a few years. This was of course a big loss for the company because they left when the know how transfer had just ended and their job proficiency had reached its peak. The exit interviews unveiled though that these employees did not quit because they were unhappy with the job or the working environment. They quit for private reasons. They and their family had been unhappy living in this small city. Everyday life was difficult for them because only a few of their neighbours spoke English. There simply was no significant community of their culture they could socialize with. From a social point of view, many employees were isolated outside their work environment. The main reason for them quitting was to move to a bigger city with a bigger multicultural community where it was much easier to get around speaking English only.
Most of the jobs offered in Germany are offered by SME firms. Most of them are not based in big cities but on the country side. Most of these companies rely on employees to stay as long as possible in order to ensure that the hire delivers return on investment. These companies know from practical experience that employee satisfaction and therefore retention is not influenced by working environment only. They have learned that employees feel much more comfortable when they are able to socialize in life and the German language is an important prerequisite to do so. But many candidates do not really see the lack of being able to speak German and thus socializing being an issue in the first place. Unfortunately, it takes one or two years until they actually find out that it indeed is. But this short amount of employment is not enough for companies though. Many companies offer German language courses for expats to address this issue. But if candidates want to increase their chances in the recruiting process they should not wait until an employer offers this to them. Start learning German as soon as possible, as good as possible, and as fast as possible. Then you will be able to convince the hiring manager easier that you will be a long lasting value add for him or her. This is important for you in order to address another cultural aspect which is quite typical for Germany:
- Be aware of the culture – no “trial and error” in Germany
Recently, I have read a valuable interview with an MBA graduate from India who described some lessons she learned when applying for a permanent job in Germany (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27./28. Juni 2015, page C3). It took her one year to find a job while her German fellow graduates found a job after only one or two months. She said that she simply was not aware of some specifics of the German way of hiring. If someone would have told her before, or if the university would have trained her, she would have had found a job quicker, she said. The importance of the German language was one lesson learned. The other one was more of a cultural thing. She said that at the beginning of her application process she applied the “Indian” way: She was looking for a job in the area of customer service. She did not mind though in what industry segment. Looking back, she said, her German fellows on the other hand, knew very well in what industry segment they wanted to work in (banking, automotive or consulting for example). In countries like India or the USA it might be business as usual to switch jobs or to move from one industry to another. In Germany, however, it is not that common.
Many companies in Germany look for spot on candidates. Ideally, they seek candidates who have done the job before and in the same industry. They prefer candidates who practically already proved on the job that they can do it. They look for spot on candidates because they want to minimize the risk of failure. I have rarely experienced hiring managers saying, let’s give him/her a try even though the candidate is not spot on. One reason for that is that it is much more difficult to fire an employee in Germany because of poor performance than it is in other countries. Actually labour law makes it almost impossible to fire employees because of performance reasons. In these cases other reasons must be put forward instead. On the plus side there is no such thing as a “hire and fire” culture in Germany compared to maybe other countries. But the legal aspect is not the only factor. No one will deny that German products are heading for perfection. Perfection is somehow the nature of the German working ethos. “Made in Germany” is a brand of its own certifying this perfection. You need to be creative and innovative thinking outside the box when you target to develop game changing products. Game changers are often developed in the USA (Amazon changed the retail industry, Google changed the advertisement industry, Tesla tries to change the automotive industry). Maybe this is the reason why countries like the USA and India are more flexible when it comes to hiring candidates who are not spot on coming from another industry. They might in fact add another view, bring in new ideas. There are not that many game changing products which have been developed by German companies though. Germany is predominantly known for perfection. German companies often do not target to develop game changing products but to develop best of breed products. In order to target perfection you need highly specialized subject matter experts who are not satisfied with a good product but who want to develop the very best car on the market. These experts need to stay in the company for a long time since perfection can only be achieved over a longer period of time. When German companies make a hiring decision their mind set is often focused on making a sustainable decision. The new hire shall stay with the company for a long time.
At this point it makes sense to come back to the MBA graduate’s experience quoted earlier. Her German fellow graduates found a job quicker than she did. Not only did they know what kind of job they liked to do (like her), but they also knew exactly in what industry segment they wanted to work in (unlike her). Why can this make a difference in the application process? Let’s assume that I am a recruiter in an automotive company in Germany. My performance is measured amongst others on the retention of new hires. One candidate tells me that he likes the job in customer service for the reason x. The other candidate tells me the same but in addition he tells me that he is excited about cars, speed, and design and that our brand was always his dream brand. As a recruiter I must consider that the first candidate might get bored after some time in customer services or even worse he may find out that automotive industry in general is not quite his cup of tea. The other candidate however is highly attracted by the automotive industry in general and our brand specifically could be placed in another department if customer service should turn out not to be up his street. Thus the latter is spot on whereas the first candidate is more of a risk, because he has not shown clear interest. The first one is attracted by the job and the latter one by the job AND the company AND the product. A candidate who might be perceived in the USA as being fearless, open minded and willing to learn might be perceived in Germany as being indecisive or even immature. Both interpretations are reasonable because they represent different business models: one is focused to develop game changing products the other one is focused to develop best of breed products. One is marketing focused the other one is engineering focused. You should better consider this difference if you want to succeed in Germany.
I assume that the German fellow graduates had as little support in preparing for their applications as the graduate from India because they graduated from the same German university. The mind set though was different for cultural reasons I believe. The German candidates seemed to know exactly what they wanted and for the right hiring company they seemed to be spot on. While the candidate from India might had been perceived as kind of indecisive or even immature. Expat candidates can therefore increase their success rate in Germany if they put more thought in selecting the right job opportunities before they actually send a job application. I recommend thinking about the right job but also thinking more about the right industry and even the right company to apply to. Do not waste time applying for jobs in companies you actually know little about. At first, make yourself familiar with them, with their products and services before you apply for a job. The companies and the people working there (hiring manager, recruiters) are very proud of the products they develop and successfully sell to the world. They expect candidates to show passion for them as well. That’s why employees at BMW would never buy an Audi. Employees at Mercedes would never show up at the company parking with a Ford. Hiring managers and recruiters expect this kind of passion from candidates, too. This is why every candidate is asked the same question in the interview: “what do you know about us?” Thus you better had done some good research before you answer this question. Otherwise you will not be able to convince them. I recommend to invest time in research and you will profit in putting together outstanding application documents. They should meet some formal requirements, in order to increase your chance to succeed.
The next issue of this miniseries for expats and foreign graduates will explain how to compile application documents the Germany way.
Please follow and share this blog with your network.
Cheers, Myron
Bisher erschienen:
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.1: Einführung in die Reihe
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.2: Englische Fachbegriffe kurz erläutert
Recruiting White Paper Vol.3: Personalbedarfsplanung
Recruiting White Paper Vol.4: Die Requisition
Recruiting White Paper Vol.5.1: Weshalb sich oft die „falschen“ Kandidaten bewerben – Phrasen in Stellenanzeigen
Recruiting White Paper Vol.5.2: Talent Pools – die Fata Morgana der proaktiven Personalbeschaffung?
Recruiting White Paper Vol.5.3 – Wie man es schafft, 30% aller Stellen durch Mitarbeiterempfehlungsprogramme zu besetzen
Recruiting White Paper Vol.5.4: 4 Tips, wie man Personalberatungskosten senkt ohne die Qualität zu mindern
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 6: Warum Corporate Recruiter keine Headhunter sind – aber sein müssen
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 6.1: Warum passive Kandidaten selten zu Bewerbern werden.
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 7.1: Wann Hiring Manager mit der Leistung von Recruitern zufrieden sind – Die Bewerber Shortlist
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 7.2: Wie Fehlentscheidungen der der Bewerberauswahl vermieden werden – Effektive Auswahlmethoden
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 8: Warum gerade hervorragende Bewerber ein Angebot auch mal ablehnen – Effektives Closing für Recruiter
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 9: Warum die richtigen IT Systeme Einfluss auf die Leistung der Recruiting Funktion haben
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.10: Zwei Bedingungen, damit die Recruiting Funktion tatsächlich Gehör (Geld) im Unternehmen findet.
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.10.1: Was zeichnet gut Recruiter wirklich aus?
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.10.2: Was unterscheidet durchschnittliche von sehr guten Recruiting Abteilungen
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.11.1: Umfragebasierte KPI im Corporate Recruitment
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.11.2: Manuelle und systemgenerierte KPI
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol.11.3 – 5 KPI Best Practices: den Erfolg nicht nur messen, sondern steuern
Recruiting Whitepaper Vol. 12: Warum Recruiting der aufregendste Job im Unternehmen ist.
Jobsuche ist wie Partnersuche – Traum oder Alptraum? Gedanken zum Jobportal „Talents Connect“
Bewerbungsratgeber richtig verwenden – 5 Tipps für das Vorstellungsgespräch.
Active Sourcing in Sozialen Netzwerken: Zwei Anwendungsbeispiele für die Personalbeschaffung
Recruiter als Recruitment Business Partner im Rahmen des Ulrich HR Modells
Demnächst/next:
How to compile application documents the German way.
Über ttr-net: http://bit.ly/ttrnet
ttr - target talent recruiting 