Still More Differences

One more difference between the German and the North American job application process is the amount of feedback an applicant receives. Contrary to what one might expect it is the German companies that provide the most feedback. Whenever you submit an application you usually receive a confirmation letter or e-mail from the company informing you that they did indeed receive your application. And most of the letters are actually signed by real people. You can also count on getting a rejection letter if you did not make the cut. Something that rarely if ever happened to me in Canada. At one point I did receive a rejection letter from Kimberley Clark some six months after submitting my application. By that time I did already have another job. However, getting a letter at all was definitely the exception. The German companies also send back the contents of your application package with the rejection letter i.e. your resume, supporting documents etc. . They do keep the cover letter though. Still it's good that you get back all the other stuff considering that you might have to send out up to 100 applications before finding a job.

Interesting Differences

As it turns out there are some subtle differences in the job search process between Canada and Germany. The first difference is the format of the resume. German resumes feature some additional information that would be "unwanted" in Canadian resumes. For example, it is expected that the German resume includes a photo of the applicant, his/her date of birth, his/her place of birth, nationality as well as his/her family status. That's right. You have to tell them whether you are single, married, divorced or if you have children. In Canada, or North America, this would invite all kinds of legal problems, but over here it is the standard.

The second difference involves the contents and overall presentation of the application package. In Canada it is more than enought to staple your resume to your cover letter, chuck it in an envelope and off you go. In Germany you have to go to some additional lengths. In addition to the cover letter and resume you have to include your academic records, letters of reference from previous employers and anything else the employer might be interested in. All of this goes into a small plastic binder and then into the envelope. Alternatively you can buy an outrageously priced, specially designed cardboard portfolio to put all of your documents in. In my view way too expensive if you send out resumes on a daily basis. Plus, are there really HR people out there judging an applicant by the cover the application arrives in?

The third difference concerns the time frame of the entire application process. In Canada it can be less than a week from the point the employer receives your resume to your first interview. In Germany the entire process can be quite drawn out. Employers are even quite apologetic if they schedule an interview on short notice, i.e. within a week.

Other than that I have not noticed too many other differences in the application process. Especially the way interviews are conducted is quite similar. Most of the standard questions you can expect in a Canadian interview also make an appearance in a German interview.

Getting started

So, I finally caved in and decided to set up my own blog. Whether I have the necessary discipline to post on a regular basis remains to be seen. Or if I have anything interesting to say. We'll see.