How to get invited to a job interview - Part 4

Not so long ago, my nephew contacted me from Belgium and told me he had applied for a job in Germany. "It's so weird, though", so he said, "they asked me whether I am willing to relocate and for my gross annual salary".

It was quite the revelation and we both had to laugh so hard about how neighbouring countries could still have such big cultural differences!

When applying for a job in Germany, the requirements usually are:

• CV

• Motivational letter

• Letters of reference / credentials

• Gross annual earnings

When I arrived in Germany almost 18 years ago and was asked to deliver my "Zeugnisse", which can also be translated as "school report", I actually dug up my high school diploma. The recruiter then didn't know this is not a habit in Belgium.

Also stating the desired gross annual salary is something that feels strange.

Selling yourself for what you're worth unfortunately isn't something they teach us at school.

The salary expectations are used for a first cut in the candidate selection. Usually there is a budget and HR knows how far they can stretch it for the perfect candidate.

If the HR department is really strict, they won't even consider you if one of these above requirements is missing.

Lucky for you, we're recruiters and we will have a look at your CV, even if the rest is missing. What is of importance to us: relevant work experience or comparable experience through hobbies etc.

Most of our clients turn to us for that reason especially. Otherwise they would use the usual recruiting portals.

And even if we have no job opening fitting your profile but fancy a career change: contact us anyway. It is a fast changing market out there and we keep a candidate list.

To close our series on "How to get invited to a job interview" we would like to share our favourite templates to get you started.

The only thing you need is an account on Canva. It's free-

Canva is a great tool for creating your own graphics. From your cv to business cards, mugs and t-shirts... You name it...

How to get invited to a job interview - by BiciTALENT - CANVA Templates.pdf

Download PDF • 905KB

We sure look forward to receiving those fancy CV's!

If you have been following us for a while and you are looking for a career change, but you don't know what your options are: just contact us. We'll be happy to schedule a call.

We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavours!

Take care,

Your BiciTALENT Team