This blog will inform you
about the differences I have learned about cover letters, resumes and
interviews in America versus
Germany.
There are many differences so it is hard to focus on just a few.
I
have been told that a resume in U.S.
is usually more important when applying for a job than it is in Germany. If
Germans were to apply for a job, the employer takes their first look over the
cover letter. If the cover letter sounds interesting to the potential employer
than the second step is to read the resume. The creation of the cover letter is
almost the same in Germany
as it is in America
with only one difference. In Germany
the first lines of the cover letter indicates the title of the application in
bold underlined letters. For instance,
the first sentence of a German cover letter might be “My application is for
your job offer as a career counselor at Career Services posted on 07/20/2009”. We make it stand out so the employer knows
what the application is for.
Students
in Germany
study at school how to write a cover letter and resume. It depends on your school
at which grade you learn how to do this, but when you graduate you are familiar
with writing a cover letter and resume. Maybe this is a reason why for German
students find it is easier to write these documents because they learn it in an
earlier age usually around 15 years old.
But what is really
impressive is the information which you place on an American versus a German
resume about the personality description.
German resumes are more similar to a biography. Usually you write down
your gender and marital status in a German resume. You also give information
about your parents’ occupations, name and age of your brothers and sisters. You
also indicate your age to the employer as well as your religion, your
disability and the place of birth. The greatest difference on a resume appears
to be a picture of yourself. You place your photo on the first page of your
application.
Interviews
are conducted very similarly between the two countries. But what you can not find
in Germany
are phone interviews. After an interview
in Germany,
we do not write a thank you note to the employer. Many questions which are considered illegal
for employers to ask in America
are expected to be asked in Germany.
In fact the employer already has this information since it appears on the
resume.
My 10-week internship will
end this week! I am very sad about this! It was one of the greatest experiences
that I ever had. This has been a memorable one and I will always carry it with
me. I learned much the last two and a half months, not only for my study in Germany but I
also gained valuable experience for myself. The interactions with UCSB students
and co-workers were very interesting for me and it was wonderful to have the
opportunity to learn about all these new programs at Career Services. Since I established new friends here and met
such wonderful people, it is more difficult to leave – but I have to. The next
two weeks I have to spend time writing papers and reports for my university in Germany.
During the last two weeks in the U.S., I am excited to travel along the west
coast to Mexico and then to the east coast to Miami before going back to my
studies in Germany which starts on September 1. Thank you for reading my last blog
here at Career Services!
Tschuess – macht’s gut!! (“Good bye – take care and
have fun!”)
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