German job applications

When applying for a job, German employers expect candidates to supply not only a CV but also copies of educational certificates and diplomas. My question is, how far back do you need to provide these diplomas? Specifically, if I’m applying for a job that requires a Ph.D. or Master’s degree, obviously I should include a copy of my graduate degree and probably my undergraduate degree as well, but do I need to include my high school diploma? How about transcripts?

I would drop their HR dept. a quick email and ask them.

It wouldn’t be a dealbreaker IMO but at least for your first serious job after leaving the soft embrace of the educational system I think a German employer would be interested in your high school diploma. The reason being that in Germany your general education is supposed to be complete with your Abitur - you don’t get any mandatory ‘liberal education’ courses with your undergraduate study. So, outside of the specific subjects of your university study, your high school grades show what education they can expect of you.

For example with me, on applying for my first position after university, I included

  • my Abitur diploma, where employers could look up my general education i.e. what grades I got in history, German, English, maths, French, sports, religion, etc.

  • my university diploma (Dipl.-Ing. in electrical engineering), where employers could look up my professional education i.e. my grades in control engineering, fields/vector analysis, HF engineering, electrical engines etc. etc.

  • all written references/certificates of employment from employments/internships before and during study.

Note: A master’s diploma/high school diploma that just states that you successfully finished that part of education would be of quite limited value. Employers want to see subjects and grades.

When I was considering moving back to Germany to work and live out the remainder of my years, I was told that a 1-2 page CV wouldn’t cut it.

They want in-depth information, especially if you are to be considered for a job as a “foreign employee”.

That’s kinda the “cut and dried” version of what I was told, but Wallenstein has advised you well: ask them. I think they’ll apreciate your being fastidious enough to give them an in-depth resume’.

Ich wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg!:wink:

Q

Another note: Employers expect your CV and associated copies of educational diplomas/work references to be chronologically without gap (because if there are months or years unaccounted for they’d ask themselves if you are hiding something).

So if someone was out of work for a while they should include that period in their CV?

Yes - but it looks better if you state you put that period to some use. For example when I looked for work after graduation I put down my various temporary jobs (electrician’s helper, office messenger, press review clipper); someone with serious professional credentials would usually put ‘self-employed consultant’ or some such instead of ‘unemployed’ (a long period of unemployment being a major black mark against you).

Perhaps there’s a difference in terminology at play here. In the US, the diploma is a single sheet of paper, attesting that recipient has been awarded X degree from Y school on Z date - it often looks something like this. They’re often more appropriate to hang on the wall than to show employers.

The pages-long list of classes, grades and degrees conferred is referred to as a transcript here. Prospective employers usually want to see these, and have little interest in the diploma.

ETA: If the terminology is indeed different between the US and Germany, then it sounds like the employer wants what we’d call transcripts - which is in line with what a US employer would desire.

I’ve never met a US or Canadian employer that wanted to see transcripts. If they’re looking to hire someone with a degree, all they want is proof you got the degree, in which case the diploma is sufficient (but they never even ask for that in your initial application).

Our experiences differ - I couldn’t really say which one is more representative. When I was looking for jobs out of grad school, all prospective employers wanted my transcripts.

But High School transcripts? I’m not even sure if I could get a copy even if I wanted to. I don’t know how often the NY Board of Ed purges records, and its been 15 years!

And undergraduate transcripts? Now that I’m looking at jobs post-law school, it is the very, very rare employer who is interested in my undergraduate transcripts (basically, a very few Federal judges). I could get a copy without too much difficulty though.