Germany is not the Nordics: the DACH interview register
German-speaking Europe is often coached as if modesty were the rule. The data says the opposite: assertiveness level with the US, paired with the strongest verification culture in Europe. What that means for how you interview.
A common mistake folds German-speaking employers into a generic “humble European” register. The primary data refuses the fold: the DACH societies rank 4th, 6th, 10th and 14th of 62 on assertiveness practices — far above England, and statistically level with the United States, combined with the highest uncertainty-avoidance practices in Europe — Germanic cluster 5.12, Austria 5.16, Switzerland 5.37. The register this produces is not understatement — it is verification. Volume is welcome; what fails is a claim without a checkable fact behind it.
The German Federal Employment Agency’s own interview guidance says it best: “Wer krampfhaft gut sein will, verliert schnell die Glaubwürdigkeit” — straining to look flawless quickly costs you credibility — alongside an explicit premium on authenticity and on weaknesses answered honestly. The deflected non-weakness — “I work too hard” — fails the authenticity test this culture actually scores.
One country, two registers
Switzerland is the sharpest warning against coaching by country instead of by culture: German-speaking Switzerland scores 4.51 on assertiveness where French-speaking Switzerland scores 3.47 — opposite cases that must not be treated as one market. This is why the practice asks where your employer is, not what your nationality is — and why French-speaking Switzerland is coached with the modest francophone register while Zürich is coached here.
The salary question is normal — and your pay history is becoming off-limits
“Welche Gehaltsvorstellungen haben Sie?” appears on the Federal Employment Agency’s own list of standard interview questions — expect it, and answer with a researched figure. Your previous salary is a different matter: the EU pay-transparency directive bans employers from asking applicants about their pay history, and gives applicants a right to the role’s initial pay or its range — while saying nothing against asking about pay expectations. One honest caveat before you rely on it: the ban is only as strong as national transposition, and Germany has notified no implementing measures — Austria missed the deadline by days but has since transposed. So the coaching rule runs: never volunteer your previous salary — in Austria they may no longer ask; in Germany, prudence does the work the law does not yet do.