Employers must change tactics to find top German speakers

Employers must change tactics to find top German speakers

With a third of jobs on multilingualvacancies.com requiring German speakers, these candidates are more in demand than ever and the jobs are becoming harder to fill. German-speaking candidates, however, are particularly discerning when looking for roles. That’s according to a new survey by multilingualvacancies.com, a specialist language job board.

The survey asked 385 German-speaking jobseekers from several locations about their job hunting tendencies.

The responses showed that 22% of German speakers have been looking for a new role for over three months, showing that employers need to scan older CVs as well as newer ones. The survey also revealed that over a third of jobseekers are willing to relocate and another third would do so given a relocation package, indicating that employers shouldn’t rule out jobseekers on the basis of location.

Salary is also a vital factor in attracting German-speaking talent and many jobseekers will not apply for a role unless the salary is stated. They will also be put off if the salary seems too low for the duties expected of them. However salary was not the most important factor - the most popular answer to the question ‘what attracts you to a role?’ was ‘clear opportunities for career progression’.

Another factor that stopped German-speakers applying for roles was spelling and grammatical errors in the job ads.

Miranda Reid, Associate Director of multilingualvacancies.com says: “With German speakers in such high demand, this survey is an interesting insight into how employers can use tools like job boards more effectively to make sure they reach the best candidates. Simple changes could potentially make a significant difference.”