Job applicant with master's in German rejected after interviewer insists only native speakers are ‘good enough’
A man with a Master’s degree in German language and literature was rejected from a major company in Germany because his German was deemed “not good enough."
A job applicant with a Master’s degree in German language and literature shared a frustrating experience of being denied a position at a major German company due to him being non-native in German.
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Despite his qualifications and experience, the applicant was quickly dismissed during the HR interview. “Within a minute, she said my German was not good enough, so I didn't stand a chance,” he wrote. When asked for clarification, the recruiter hesitated before suggesting that the applicant apply for roles in his home country or English-speaking teams instead. After further pressing, the recruiter admitted that only native speakers were considered proficient enough for the role.
The job primarily involved writing technical reports in English and participating in German-language meetings, making the strict language requirement particularly surprising.
Take a look at the post:
The post resonated with others, including one user who shared a similar experience with Russian. “I'm not native, but I lived in Russian-speaking countries for years and have a degree in it. I worked for the UN in Russian-speaking roles and had the certification of language proficiency,” the commenter explained. Despite proving their fluency and passing all language tests, they too were rejected due to a non-native status.
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A user added, “Sounds like discrimination on the basis of nationality. She knew what she was doing. You caught her.”
One user noted, “Germans can be extremely discriminatory and they don’t see an issue with it. People who think US has discrimination problems, they haven’t seen Europe and it’s not just Germany.”
HT.com has not independently verified the claims made in the post.
