nterview process was polite and professional on the surface, but the feedback I received afterwards raised concerns about how non-native speakers are evaluated.
I had a long interview conducted fully in German and discussed fairly complex business and technical topics without switching languages. The feedback I later received acknowledged my strong technical understanding, strategic mindset, and positive communication style, but stated that my German was still “quite broken,” despite my officially certified B2 TELC level.
The issue is not rejection itself — companies obviously choose among candidates. The issue is transparency and consistency. During the interview there was no indication that communication difficulties existed, and the interaction appeared highly positive. Receiving contradictory feedback afterwards felt discouraging and somewhat subjective.
Recruiters themselves admitted that under high applicant volume, companies often use “coarse filtering” methods. Candidates should be aware that language evaluations may sometimes depend not only on actual communication ability, but also on comparison with native speakers or internal preferences that are not clearly disclosed upfront.
I appreciate the recruiter’s openness and respectful communication, but I would encourage the company to improve transparency and objectivity in interview evaluations.