• Introduction
In this article, we collected the most common interview questions for doctors in Germany. Of course, this was not a study but based on the posts and comments posted in the main group of Facharzt JETZT on Facebook and Telegram.
• Interview questions for doctors in Germany: Write & correct
Write the answers to these questions (in German, of course, 😅) and let a native speaker or your German teacher correct the text. Rehearse then the answers in front of a mirror or with friends. You can also record a video of yourself and then watch it.
After this kind of preparation and training, they will probably think in the interview that you have a better German level than your actual one. This is because they do not know that you have done what we wrote before.😅 Believe me, this is not hard to prepare the answers. However, many doctors do not do that and already by introducing themselves, they make mistakes. ☹️ This is almost always one of the first questions that are asked.
Test our hypothesis above that some doctors make mistakes by introducing themselves
Write in Windows Notepad a paragraph or two introducing yourself and what you have done until now. Do not use Microsoft Word because it automatically corrects your mistakes. Copy what you write to Microsoft Word and see if the text contains mistakes. After you are finished with the correction in Microsoft Word, copy the final text to this free online correction website, which discovers more mistakes than Microsoft Word. Do you have not at least 1 mistake? 😥 Post the text as a comment below, too, so that we can see if it has more mistakes.
It is not only about mistakes. 😎 If you wrote and let someone correct what you wrote, then you do not speak slowly in the interview, try to find certain words, and above all, you will certainly be more self-confident.
In a previous article, we explained general tips for job interviews for doctors in Germany:
• The most common interview questions for doctors in Germany:
– Nice general questions at the beginning (to warm up)
🇩🇪 Nette allgemeine Fragen am Anfang (zur Aufwärmung)
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wollen Sie etwas trinken? | Do you want to drink something? |
Sometimes, there are drinks on the table, like water and coffee. No, although there are more than 5000 types of beer in Germany, drinking beer (with alcohol) is never allowed for workers in hospitals. Do not make my mistake in my first interview in Germany. No, I did not ask for beer. 🤣 The water bottles were in front of us in all in the middle of the table, and I could have simply grabbed a bottle. But I said in full stress: “Water please!”. Then came a long pause. I never asked, but I think everyone expected that I grabbed it myself. 😅 I thought, because I am a guest, I should not simply stand up and take what I want. In my country, guests simply say what they want, and then it will be brought to them.
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wie war die Fahrt hierhin? | How was the trip to us? |
Even if you had the worst trip in your life, you should NOT mention that. Do not bring any negativity into the discussion. In any kind of business meeting, where you want something from someone, stay away from negativity!!! I was once in a date and the woman started talking about a guy she dated and after 2 or 3 dates she invited him to her apartment (Normal, if you are a charming man!🤣). He started then speaking about serial killers! I think this was the main reason why I had a date with this woman (because she never wrote with him again 🤣).
I learned this tip and many others from the most famous trainer for negotiations in Germany – Prof. Dr. Jack Nasher: One of his videos on YouTube. Listen in your free time. ⛱️🩴
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wie sind sie hierhin gekommen (Bus, Bahn, Auto, etc.)? | How did you get here (bus, train, car, etc.)? |
If you came to the city the day before, say that. And, if you watched the videos of Prof. Dr. Nasher, then you learned that you should find a way to bring positivity into the room. Tell them excitedly how beautiful the city is and how impressed you are by the architecture of the buildings. 😍 Again, never bring negativity in the discussion, bring positivity! It works! Try this in your next date! 💞💘
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Haben Sie das Krankenhaus leicht gefunden? | Did you find the hospital easily? |
Yes, of course, it was easy to find the hospital and everything was as good as expected. Continue bringing positive words into the discussion.
– Questions about you
🇩🇪 Fragen über dich
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Können Sie sich bitte (kurz) vorstellen? | Could you (briefly) introduce yourself? |
I always made a joke and asked back with a serious face: “How long?” 😅 Then I smiled. Sometimes, I said, when the doctors were surprised because of this question: “Spaß!… ” Then I began introducing the rehearsed and corrected introduction.
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wo haben Sie genau studiert? | Where exactly did you study? |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Warum wollten Sie nach Deutschland kommen? Warum wollten Sie in Deutschalnd arbeiten? | Why did you want to come to Germany? Why did you want to work in Germany? |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Sie sprechen aber gut Deutsch, wie haben Sie in so einer kurzen Zeit Deutsch gelernt? (Das muss nicht aber bedeuten, dass du wirklich gut Deutsch sprichst, manchmal nur ein Komplement) | But you speak German well, how did you learn German in such a short time? (But that doesn’t have to mean that you speak German really well, sometimes just a compliment 🤣) |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Sind Sie hier alleine? Haben Sie Familie in Deutschland? | Are you alone here? Do you have family in Germany? |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Warum sollen wir Sie einstellen? | Why should we hire you? |
– Questions about the hospital/department
🇩🇪 Fragen über das Krankenhaus/Abteilung
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| • Wie haben Sie über uns erfahren? (z. B. Anezige im Internet, Facebook-Werbung, von einem Kollegen, etc.) | • How did you find out about us? (e.g. advertisement on the Internet, Facebook advertising, from a colleague, etc.) |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Was wissen Sie über unser Krankenhaus? | What do you know about our hospital? |
Therefore, read the website of the hospital and see for example the different departments it consists of, the number of beds it has, and what is particular about it. Google the name of the hospital in “Google News” so that you read the latest articles in the press about it. Moreover, read the Wikipedia article about the website.
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Warum wollen Sie bei uns arbeiten? | Why do you want to work with us? |
At this place, I always suggest that you read a lot about the head of the department. You should show him/her that you are interested to work with them personally! This is more than anything else important. People like appreciation of what they did in life. You will not ask directly such a question, you should simply somehow talk about the achievements of the head of the department. Of course, if there are other doctors in the room, do not forget to make a compliment about them too.
– Questions about the specialty
🇩🇪 Fragen über die Fachrichtung
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Warum wollen Sie die Facharztausbildugn in dieser Fachrichtung machen? (zum Besipiel, warum wollen Sie Neurologe werden?) | Why do you want to do your residency in this specialty? (e.g., why do you want to be a neurologist?) |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Haben Sie schon Erfahrungen in diesem Bereich gesammelt? | Have you already gained experience in this area/specialty? |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Was wissen Sie über diese Facharztausbildung? | What do you know about this specialty/residency? |
– Professional/career questions
🇩🇪 Berufliche Fragen
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wie sehen Sie sich in 5 Jahren? Wollen Sie vielleicht zurück in Ihr Heimatland zurück? Wollen Sie in eine Praxis? | How do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you perhaps want to go back to your home country? Do you want to go to a practice? |
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Wolllen Sie eine Doktoarbeit machen? Wollen Sie forschen? | Do you want to do a doctoral thesis? Do you want to do research? |
This is important in university hospitals (list) or in some teaching hospitals and a few normal hospitals where the head of the department is interested in doing research. Summary: In normal and teaching hospitals, you do not fake interest in doing it.
– Medical questions
🇩🇪 Medizinische Fragen
We have good news! They are seldom asked.🥳🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉 If it happened, they might ask you easy questions.
– Interview questions for doctors in Germany: How can you answer if you do not know the answer?
A psychiatrist colleague of mine was asked in his job interview:
• Was wissen Sie über die Behandlung der Zwangsstörung?
(What do you know abou the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder?”My colleague answered very beautifully, honest and nicely:
“Ehrlich gesagt Herr Pofessor, weiß ich nicht. Das möchte ich bei Ihnen lernen”.
(To be honest, Proffessor, I do not know. I want to learn that from you/here”.He got the job!
– “You have a question for us?”
🇩🇪 Haben sie Fragen an uns?
You should ask at least one question. For example:
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Haben Sie interne Fortbildungen? | Do you have internal training courses/lectures? |
In most hospitals, they have regular internal lectures and courses. For example, after the morning report, new studies will be presented for 5 minutes. In some hospitals, there is each week a lecture/seminar by one of the supervising doctors or the residents. In University hospitals, they have too, sometimes a lecture during lunchtime (aka, lunch lecture). In addition, some hospitals host external experts/speakers to hold a lecture.
| 🇩🇪 | 🇺🇸 |
|---|---|
| Können Sie mich in einer Doktorarbeit unterstützen? | Can you support me in doing a doctoral thesis? |
See the question about if you want to do a doctoral thesis in the previous section.
• Interview questions for doctors in Germany: What were you asked in your job interview?
You can help others by quickly writing below the questions not mentioned above 😊
• This article was written with a help from Mr. Teddy Kabel, admin of the largest English group for foreign doctors in Germany. Vielen Dank 🙂
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