Job interviews in Germany, decoded
Structured, factual and more direct than you may expect — including a salary question you will almost certainly be asked. Here is the usual process and how to prepare for it.
The process
What the rounds usually look like
- 1
HR screening (20–30 min, often by phone or video)
Confirms the basics: your motivation, language levels, notice period, work permission and salary range. Have a number ready even here — it is normal to be asked this early.
- 2
Professional / technical round
With the team or the hiring manager. Expect specific questions about what you actually did, not hypotheticals — German interviewers tend to probe depth over storytelling.
- 3
Final round
Often with a department head or a second manager, sometimes a short task or presentation. Larger corporates may run an Assessment Center for graduate programmes.
- 4
Offer and contract
Verbal agreement first, then a written Arbeitsvertrag. Nothing is binding until signed — read it before you say yes.
Two to four rounds is typical, spread over several weeks. Slowness is normal here and rarely a signal about you.
Etiquette
Norms that are taken seriously
- Be early. Five to ten minutes before, including for video calls — lateness is read as unreliability, not bad luck.
- Use Sie unless explicitly invited to duzen (startups often duzen from the first email).
- Bring or attach your documents: CV, certificates, and Arbeitszeugnisse if you have them.
- Answer concretely. Vague enthusiasm scores lower than a precise example with a result.
- It is fine to say you don't know something — inventing an answer is worse than admitting a gap.
- Prepare questions of your own about the team, the role and how success is measured.
Questions
What you will likely be asked
After the interview
Three things that decide the ending
Have your number ready
The salary question comes up in almost every process. Know your gross range and what it leaves you net before you are asked.
Follow up without apologising
A short thank-you, then a polite check-in if their promised date passes. Persistence is read as interest, not pressure.
Read the contract before saying yes
A verbal yes is not the end. Probezeit, notice period and working hours all live in the written Arbeitsvertrag.
Next step once an offer arrives: what is in a German employment contract.
FAQ
Common questions
Will the interview be in German or English?
Whatever language the job ad and the role require. International companies and many tech teams interview in English; customer-facing, healthcare and public-sector roles will be in German. If the ad is in German, expect at least part of the conversation in German — ask beforehand which language to prepare, that question is welcome.
How should I answer the salary question?
Give a gross annual range (e.g. '58,000 to 64,000 euro') rather than refusing — deflecting reads as unprepared. Base it on real figures for the role and region, and know what that means after tax before you agree to anything.
What should I wear?
Industry decides. Banking, insurance, law and consulting stay formal; tech, startups and agencies are business casual. When you can't tell, go one step smarter than you think the office is — being slightly overdressed is neutral, underdressed is not.
Is small talk expected?
A little at the start, then the conversation gets down to business faster than in the US or UK. Directness is not coldness — short, factual answers are the professional norm here, not a sign the interview is going badly.
Should I follow up after the interview?
A short thank-you email the same or next day is fine and increasingly common. If you hear nothing by the date they promised, a polite check-in after a week or two is normal — German hiring processes are genuinely slow, and silence usually means internal delay rather than rejection.
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Want to practise first? Mock interviews with written feedback — in German or English.