hello everyone!
i should thank this site for letting me know the portal for jobs.now that i got my first interview call would someone out der help me or guide me.....how should i face an interview in deutchland...what would be the probable common questions asked for an auslander? how do i over come the problem of workpermit....all you guyz out der who got jobs in germany kindly suggest me some tips and mind you i am a student attending my first interview!

Hi Panna,

For entry-level jobs (fresh out of Uni) interviews in Germany or not much different than those in India. As you do not have any work experience, they would just like to see your confidence level, educational background and your suitability in the organisation.

Wish you all the best in your interview!

regards

hi,

visit the company's web site and learn all what you can about it (products, worldwide offices, major costumers, etc).

You need to think always in the job description before answer any question.

Best wishes,

Alex

Hi,

few tips from my side:

1. Dress Conservative.
2. Reach 5-10 min. before the appointment ( too early is also bad as late going).
3. If you are a fresher, the prepare well about your Diplomarbeit or Master's Thesis.
4. Why have you studied the subjects you have done in your studies (e.g. why have you studied Electrical Engineering not Law ??)
5. What is your field of interest for work and why?? (Try to justify with your part-time work, work experience (if any) or in studies with examples).
6. How long you want to work here? (They wanna check your stability with the company)
7. Your German language skills ?? (depends on the company. Tell them upto which level you can manage or If you donot know much then say you are learning.
8. Talk with confidence and answer the interviewer with eye contact.

may be others can give some more interesting tips...


Good luck.
Peacy

"7. Your German language skills ?? (depends on the company. Tell them upto which level you can manage or If you do not know much then say you are learning.", and if they ask you about the basics in case you answer this, then you can get in problem if you know none :-)

I dunno if it can still apply today but I remember when I made an interview in 2001, knowing no German, I frankly told my boss at that time that I knew no German, full stop. BUT and there's a BUT, I told them to get me on board and I will take time to learn it and that I will be so dedicated that I will stop speaking in English, for as much as I could, after the next 3 months, and that's what I did and it worked :-) Being sincere always pays.

D.

Hi,

all the messages above are very informative and include lots of experience.

From my side: ask them whether you can perform a presentation, in which you show them a powerpoint, about a product in their area. If you offer them, this will be an advantage, because you offer it, you'll influence them about yourself in a positive way. If they already did so, be well-prepared, like Alex recommended.

Good luck!
Klenze17

Hi,

just to recap what others said and maybe add to it :-

.1) Be Prepared -do research on the company and it's product(S).
.2) Be Confident -- let your strength shine.
Let them know you're the best guy to do the job.
and your weakness(Deutsch) give them the feeling is NO BIG DEAL (particularly if company is international) and that you have what it takes to improve on it FAST.
.3) Be strong Be assertive yet polite just in case of psychogenic distraction ;-)


Success !

Hi everyone,
thank you soooooooooo much for such informative replies i thank one and all...alex,akshay,klenz,onye,nobody,peacy and all others too.would you believe i am feeling confident now going thru all ur tips...but guyz would you let me know...see.one person has said....dress conservative...would you plz tell me...actually i thought of wearing a suit but suit is to formal....can i wear a chudidhar(indian dress) or will they have a negative impression?...and i m goingfor a microbiologist post....do u think i need to prepare about the products?....do reply these two queries....thanks in advance buddies.....

"can i wear a chudidhar......"

is that an interview for microbiologist or some bhangra-dancer?

If you dont mind me asking, are u a female?

@ AKSHAY
THAT WAS INDEED A RUDE REMARK!

being an indian girl i feel confortable in that outfit so just wanted to clarify from you guyz whom i thought to help me out...anyways thanks once again!

Okie, that answers my question. Understanding the problems faced by indian ladies, chudhidhar is ok, but make it the last option and nothing too fancy, just some mild colors with not much embroidery, mirrors etc. But the best would be to get hold of some formal female clothes as they wear here( for example in banks). Your prospective employers are hit with a culture schock when they see indian dresses.

@panna28

sorry yaar....I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. This outfit certainly is comfy but would get you lot of unwanted attention at your work place. Just try to blend-in, and not stand-out because of some exotic oriental apparel. Could send wrong signals to one-track-minds.

@panna28

well, just go to a shop and ask advice to the salesman (better a woman). Tell her that you are looking for some that can be used in an interview but it can be reused to go to the disco on weekends :-)

Just kidding, the salesman will give you a good advice ;-)

If I was the interviewer I would take the wearing of chudidhar as a (first) sign that you are still not integrated in another culture (not very good), and it will distract the attention of the interviewer(s). Try to look like a "standard" person.

"do u think i need to prepare about the products?"

hard to say for us, it depends of the job description. Try to find how it relates to what the company does. For example, in our case, if the job description says "image processing", we know that we will have to concentrate in that line of products. It sound easy, but there are companies with a very large line of products and it has no sense to review all. For that reason is important to get a good job description.

@Panna28

Alex is right...If I was the interviewer I would rather see my candidate in one of these :-)

"www.bonprix-shop.de/bp/shop.htm?id=117447699870152958-0&nv=1|3556"

@panna

I would also discurage cloths that are not "common" culture.

One more tip:
At the end they will ask you if you have questions. Show interest in the job, ask about the number of team members, their age (this shows that you are a team player), ask some details about the work activities, let them now via your questions that you are the person for this job. During the interview ask "by the way" technical questions.

good luck!

hi everyone!
I am just ENTHRALLED! by the replies all you nice guyz gave me.I would say nothing else....but THANK YOU GUYZ!

If you haven't done the interview yet, send me a mail at daolwin at hotmail dot com, I will send you a document with a list of questions you can ask during your interview. Got that from Techrepublic.com a long time ago, it might be of help.

D.

Well as far as I know, multicultural dresses are banned from many of the companies as they draw unwanted attention from the internal employees.

So strong recommendation would be to wear a ladies suit as this is the code of business in Europe.

Dont think much about your outfit as that may consume some of your energy rather than channeling it in performing the interview. Just wear a suit and think that you are the best.
A feel good attitude is always the secret for performance.

Be cool. Some companies try to test your patience and anoyyance levels by passing derogatory remarks about one's culture. Just have a smiling face and try to change the topic when such questions arise.This doesnt mean that they are harsh but they just test you whether you would be able to integrate into the company inspite of some anti social influences.

I strongly recommend you to ask many questions as possible. Never ask a closed question which converges the opponents answer to a 'yes' or 'no'.
Ask all open questions as possible like 'When', 'what', 'Where' and why????
With this if you cant answer any technical questions, they would see your motivation to answer a question by getting important information about the subject.