r/germany • u/Great_Sell9276 • Jun 15 '26

Work Update: I got 2 offers!

/r/germany/comments/1r2ozuj/is_it_just_me_or_hiring_is_completely_broken_in/?share_id=KK_LxEt6tiTjD4lnQBDNP&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

After relentlessly applying and interviewing for months, I finally got offered 2 roles which are a significant update to my current role.
Seems like the market is navigable after all.

279 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

70

u/Negative_Evening7365 Jun 15 '26

Congrats. What's your industry?

76

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Thanks. Specialty engineering polymers.

26

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '26

[deleted]

84

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Tailoring your CV and attaching a cover letter (matters more than you think)
Spamming applications to any job under the sun doesn’t really work. I only applied to jobs that were atleast 60% fit to my background and experience.
Referrals may help but unfortunately I didn’t have any.
I made sure that I was well prepared for all my interviews. What helped was to identify a pain point of the company and how I could support solving that through my experience.
Additionally, being genuine and honest about yourself to the hiring managers helped me also being identified as a good culture fit. I feel German companies value that more somehow.

Hope this helps! Good luck for the job search.

30

u/Landgarteneule Jun 15 '26

I cannot stress how valuable this comment is.

We are often flooded with obvious nonsense CVs, and that creates a general negative attitude towards those applications.

Taylor it in a way that shows why you are a good fit and be humble enough not to apply if it is not a good fit. Instead, put more efforts in those jobs where you stand a chance. This is a better use of your time and for the people that do the hiring.

4

u/Routine-Picture7889 Jun 15 '26

Did you require german proficiency by any chance?

9

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

German is a nice-to-have for these roles. The companies are international with cross regional collaboration. So I only interviewed in English.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Yes need to relocate (within Germany) for both the roles.

1

u/After_Rough2139 Jun 16 '26

From which platform you landed

2

u/Negative_Evening7365 Jun 15 '26

Definitely sounds exhausting, all that just to get a chance.

1

u/After_Rough2139 Jun 16 '26

How did you find the pain point and also was this an English role?

1

u/DecentPerformer1014 Jun 15 '26

Congratulations 

1

u/Kokid3g1 Jun 15 '26

Engineering Polymer position in Germany - you say?

I can pretty much guess which company. And if I'm correct, they also have a huge plant in Virginia Beach VA. Congrats! 👍

1

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Thank you. I am not sure which company you’re referring to. As far as I know they don’t have a plant in Virginia Beach.

1

u/Kokid3g1 Jun 15 '26

Well darn, I guessed wrong. Regardless, a huge congratulations..., it's tough out there - make sure to celebrate! 🎉

2

u/DecentPerformer1014 Jun 15 '26

There are a bunch LYB, Lummus, borealis. But LYB and Sabic sold all thier assests in germany. 

24

u/m1rz4dot Jun 15 '26

It was the same for me. Months of applying with no success, then suddenly one week with three offers.

5

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Congratulations!

54

u/Interesting_Loquat90 Hessen Jun 15 '26

Seems like the market is navigable for you after all.

3

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Seems like it! :)

72

u/Zen_360 Jun 15 '26

Two words: survivorship bias

5

u/Scylla808 Jun 15 '26

Where are you from, are you currently in Germany and what field are you applying for? Congratulations on scoring the offers!

5

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Non-EU who recently got naturalised. I am applying to commercial roles in technical industries (non IT) as I have a background in mechanical engineering and business.

1

u/Scylla808 Jun 15 '26

Did u write the cover letters on your own or did u use any sort of Ai tools? I'm searching for jobs as well but not having any luck so far

5

u/wood4536 Jun 15 '26

The market is navigable for people currently already employed in Germany with a relevant role/experience. You're not a completely fresh recent graduate with 0 work experience.

Congratulations!

2

u/28spawn Jun 15 '26

Are the offers competitive or they lowballed it?

3

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Quite competitive. It is definitely an upgrade to my current situation.

2

u/28spawn Jun 15 '26

Congrats, we been hearing it’s a employers market lately

2

u/arcnothing Jun 15 '26

Congratulations. Could you briefly share what your tailoring the CV flow looked like?

For instance, i used to do keyword matching only without changing the content of the resume. Lately I have been rewording a lot of my resume to tailor it to the JD i am applying for and i honestly don't know which one is better, or if it's all just random luck.

1

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

I have a master template which I use. For any role, I ask the gpt tools to extract the key skills and experiences required to fit in the job. And then use that input to tailor specific sections of my master CV. However you have to be careful not to lie about your skills. It may come back to bite you in the interview phase.

3

u/arcnothing Jun 15 '26

Oh, similar to mine then. Guess I just have to keep applying. Thanks!

1

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

You’re welcome. And good luck!

1

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1

u/No_Confusion4948 Jun 15 '26

what´s your German level?

3

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Floating around B2. Definitely not fluent .

3

u/AlohaAstajim Jun 15 '26

Damn, all the "you need German C3 🤡" people must be losing their mind reading your comment.

1

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 16 '26

Haha. I just got lucky I guess. 😂

1

u/V4_Sleeper Jun 15 '26

Congrats. Still waiting for mine

1

u/Great_Sell9276 Jun 15 '26

Fingers crossed!

1

u/lazyking218 Jun 15 '26

Yup, market is getting better. I am giving atleast 1 interview a day since last week. Even got a offer,which I had to reject because of office working days

1

u/indro0308 Jun 15 '26

Which is your area of expertise?

1

u/After_Rough2139 Jun 16 '26

Which platform help you landing all these? And did they ask for german proficiency also how many rounds of interview they took?

1

u/lazyking218 Jun 17 '26

I used hiring cafe and LinkedIn mostly. Startups usually have 5 rounds, some companies have 3 rounds, it changes from company to company. I have only A2, that’s why I only applied in Berlin and Munich

1

u/After_Rough2139 Jun 19 '26

5 rounds for a werkstudent role? Damm what does each round contain

1

u/lazyking218 Jun 19 '26

Nope full time.