Job interviews in Germany

How a job interview in Germany runs, the questions that come up, and the ones an employer may not ask. Plus who pays for the trip.

The interview on this site is in English. Every listing here is advertised in English, so that is the language to expect. What follows is about the shape of a German interview, which stays the same whatever the language.

How the conversation usually runs

The Federal Employment Agency describes the classic interview in four stages:^[1]

1. Warm-up. A few words about your journey or the weather. Short answers are fine; nobody is scoring this part.
2. You. Your background, why you applied, and whether you fit the job.
3. Them. The company, the working conditions — hours, holiday, pay.
4. Your questions. Expect to be asked whether you have any, and have some.

Its advice for young applicants adds a greeting at the start and a goodbye at the end, and the order is the same.^[2]

The questions that come up again and again, in the Agency's own list:^[1][2]

• Why do you want to work here, of all places?
• How would you describe yourself?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
• What salary are you expecting?

None of these is a trick. They are asked in almost every interview, which is exactly why a prepared answer to each is worth more than any clever one. The Agency's own line on preparation: the more thorough it is, the less nervous you are.^[2]

Before the day

• Read the company. Its website, its news, what its people post. The Agency lists exactly this as step one.^[2]
• Tell your CV out loud. Practise walking through it without notes — the Agency suggests practising with friends or family.^[2]
• Have the salary answer ready. It can come up in the first interview. See salary negotiation for how to give a number.
• Know your start date. Notice periods in Germany are often a month or more; the job contract guide explains why an employer will ask.

Video and phone interviews

A first round may well be online. The Agency describes two kinds of video interview: a live call with someone from the company, and a recorded interview, where preset questions appear on screen and you answer within a time limit.^[1]

For either, its checklist is practical: test the software, connection, camera and headset beforehand; light your face; dress as you would in the office; look at the camera, not the screen; and shut out anything that can interrupt.^[2]

For a phone interview, keep your CV and cover letter in front of you — the questions tend to be the same as in person.^[1]

Tests and assessment centres

Larger employers sometimes add more than a conversation: an assessment centre, where several candidates work through timed tasks and role-plays, or online tests of logic and concentration, or a case study that shows how you approach a problem.^[1] Many of these can be practised at home.^[1] If the invitation mentions one, ask what format to expect — that is a normal question.

Questions an employer may not ask

German equal-treatment law, the AGG, protects applicants from being turned down because of ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity.^[3] Questions aimed at those things are, as a rule, not allowed in an interview.

The clearest case is pregnancy and family planning. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency calls a question about pregnancy eindeutig verboten — clearly forbidden — and says it need not be answered, or not answered truthfully.^[4] The Employment Agency names religion and family planning as questions an employer may not ask.^[2]

What to do if it happens anyway. The Agency's suggestion is to stay calm and friendly and ask, politely, how that matters for the job — "Inwiefern wäre das für die zu besetzende Stelle wichtig?"^[2] You are also free to decide whether this is somewhere you want to work.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you believe you were turned down for one of these reasons, time is short: a claim for compensation has to be made to the employer in writing within two months of the rejection.^[3] The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency offers advice.^[3]

Who pays for the journey

If the employer invited you to an interview in person, it generally has to pay your necessary costs — travel, and meals and a hotel if an overnight stay is really needed. The legal basis is § 670 BGB, and it applies whether or not you get the job.^[5]

Two limits:

• The employer can rule this out, but it must say so before the interview — usually in the invitation itself.^[5] Read the invitation for a line such as "Fahrtkosten können leider nicht erstattet werden."
• Only necessary costs count. A first-class ticket when a second-class one would do is not necessary.^[5] An application you sent without being asked does not create the right; the invitation does.^[5]

If the invitation says nothing, it is reasonable to ask how travel costs are handled before you book.

After the interview

German employers often take their time over applications, and slow does not mean no.^[6] The Employment Agency's advice: if you have heard nothing four weeks after the interview, ask.^[7] A short, polite email is normal and not pushy.

What we cannot do

We never see your application or your interview — every listing on this site links out to the employer's own advert, and the employer runs everything from there. This page is general information, not advice about your case.

This guide is about Germany. Austria and Switzerland work differently in places. See working in Austria and working in Switzerland.

Where to check

• Federal Employment Agency: the interview (German)
• Federal Employment Agency: interviews and selection tests (German)
• Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency — which also offers advice (German)

Checked on 28 September 2026 against the sources below. Interview conventions shift slowly; the invitation in front of you always wins.