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Topic test · B1

German in a job interview test

10questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

10 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

HR said Nehmen Sie bitte Platz. What does it mean?

An invitation to sit down. Don’t sit before you hear this sentence: handshake first, then eye contact, then the invitation.

You didn’t understand a question in the interview. Which do you say?

In the interview you address HR with Sie and the verb follows: Können Sie …? Kannst du is the friendly “you” and is not used before it is offered.

“I worked as an electrician for three years.” Which is correct?

arbeiten forms its Perfekt with haben. No ein before a job title: als Elektriker.

You still live in Cologne today: Ich seit 2023 in Köln.

I have been living in Cologne since 2023.

A situation that continues with seit is expressed with the present tense: Ich lebe seit 2023 in Köln. The Perfekt version Ich habe … gelebt is wrong here.

HR asked Und Ihre Schwächen? Which is the best answer?

And your weaknesses?

The pattern: the gap + what you do about it. “I have no weaknesses” is not believable, and apologising buries you.

The best answer to the strengths question is to list adjectives one after another: Ich bin motiviert, flexibel, teamfähig und belastbar.

False. Every candidate has this list in their mouth and it proves nothing. Two qualities are enough, followed by an example: In den drei Jahren bin ich nie zu spät gekommen.

HR asked Was sind Ihre Gehaltsvorstellungen? Which is the strongest answer?

What are your salary expectations?

Give a number, give a range, say gross. egal looks weak; a net figure doesn’t fit HR’s calculation.

In a job interview in Germany, salary is normally discussed as netto, that is, the figure that lands in your account.

False. In the interview salary is discussed brutto: the figure before tax and contributions. Add the unit too: im Monat or im Jahr.

At the end of the interview HR asked Haben Sie noch Fragen? Which is the best answer?

Do you have any more questions?

Nein reads as a lack of interest. Take two questions along; one must be the follow-up question: Wann kann ich mit einer Rückmeldung rechnen?

Build the sentence: When can I expect to hear back?

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

Question word first, the conjugated verb (kann) in second position, the infinitive (rechnen) at the very end. mit etwas rechnen = to expect something.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Fixed order, ready answers

    Greeting → tell us about yourself → strengths and weaknesses → why us and salary → your questions. If you know the order, you know the next question.

    Erzählen Sie etwas über sich.

  2. “Since” = seit + present tense

    A situation that is still going on takes the present tense; a finished job takes the Perfekt. No ein before a job title.

    Ich lebe seit 2023 in Köln. · Ich habe drei Jahre als Elektriker gearbeitet.

  3. Weakness = the gap + what you do about it

    Name the gap, then add your solution straight away. Don’t apologise, and don’t say “I have no weaknesses”.

    Mein Deutsch ist noch nicht perfekt — ich lerne täglich.

  4. Salary: a number, a range, gross

    In the interview salary is talked about gross. Give a range, add the unit, and never say egal.

    Zwischen 2.800 und 3.000 Euro brutto.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich habe seit 2023 in Köln gelebt.

    Ich lebe seit 2023 in Köln.

    If you still live there, seit takes the present tense.

  • Ich habe keine Schwächen.

    Mein Deutsch ist noch nicht perfekt — ich lerne täglich.

    A candidate with no weaknesses is not believable. Name the gap, then add what you do about it.

  • Das ist mir egal.

    Zwischen 2.800 und 3.000 Euro brutto.

    A candidate who gives no number looks weak and often gets the lowest offer.

  • Haben Sie noch Fragen? — Nein.

    Haben Sie noch Fragen? — Ja. Wie sieht ein normaler Arbeitstag aus?

    Nein reads as a lack of interest. Take two questions along, and make one of them the follow-up question.