I have been going through a lot of CVs over the last few weeks. During this time, I had a chat with an internal HR specialist about "Arbeitszeugnisse" (work reference letters).
Quick reality check directly from that HR conversation:
For this specialist, and many others in the industry, these letters are actually not checked out as often as you might think.
Why? Because German labor law dictates they must be written in a "benevolent" tone. Employers legally cannot write anything that sabotages your future career.
=> So if you only have less than 1 minute per CV you are not going to read through some potentially meaningful work reference letter!
Therefore, to an HR person, the biggest signal that something is wrong isn't usually a mediocre grade. The massive red flags are:
Missing documents: Not having an Arbeitszeugnis for a past role in Germany.
Story discrepancies: For example, you claimed in the interview that you quit, but the specific legal phrasing at the end of the letter clearly shows you were fired.
That being said, because employers are forced to be positive, they have developed a hidden grading system over decades.
What looks like a glowing compliment to you can actually signal a Grade 4 (adequate/below average) to an experienced recruiter - and some do care about this.
Here is how you decode what your German boss actually wrote about you.
Recruiters look for specific phrases that map directly to the German school grading system (1 to 5). The difference comes down to individual words, specifically "stets" (always) and "vollsten" (utmost).
Grade 1 (Very good): "... stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit" (always to our utmost satisfaction). Outstanding and consistent.
Grade 2 (Good): "... zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit" (to our utmost satisfaction). The "stets" is missing, meaning your performance was good, but not consistent.
Grade 3 (Satisfactory): "... stets zu unserer Zufriedenheit" (always to our satisfaction). The "vollsten" is missing. This is average. It sounds much better than it is.
Grade 4 (Adequate): "... zu unserer Zufriedenheit" (to our satisfaction). Without "always" or "utmost", this is barely acceptable.
Beyond the standard scale, HR uses specific phrases that sound completely harmless but act as massive warning signs.
"Er/Sie hat sich stets bemüht..." (He/She always endeavored...): The word "bemüht" is the killer here. In everyday life, trying hard is a good thing. In reference letter language, it means you tried your best but completely failed.
The wrong order of conduct: The standard order for evaluating behavior is: supervisors, colleagues, and clients. If your letter says your conduct toward "colleagues and supervisors" was good, HR reads that you got along great with the team but had a problem with authority.
"Gesellig" (Sociable): If they mention you contributed to a "pleasant" or "sociable" working atmosphere instead of praising your technical skills, it means there was nothing technical worth praising. In some older HR circles, "gesellig" can even hint at excessive drinking at company events! (which would probably be a + for some of my former employers :'D)
The ending of the reference is often the very first thing experienced recruiters read. A perfect Grade 1 ending must contain three things: regret that you are leaving, thanks for your work, and wishes for your continued success.
If the employer deliberately leaves out the regret or the thanks, they are sending an unmistakable signal: we are relieved this person is gone, and the collaboration was not worth thanking them for.
In last weeks newsletter post, we talked about how HR evaluates your CV based on four questions: ROI, Speed, Retention, and Culture.
The Arbeitszeugnis is one more indicator for "Retention and Culture".
It tells them if you left your last job on good terms, if you fit into the team hierarchy, and if you are an integration risk.
=> But again: Many HR people do not care about them that much!
If you are leaving a German company, you will usually get a draft of your reference to review. This is your chance to shape it!
HR departments rarely know the difference between React, Terraform, and Kubernetes. Offer to draft the technical section of the reference yourself. Detail your exact tech stack and the business value of the projects you built (written in the third person, of course). Most HR departments will gladly copy-paste your technical paragraph because it saves them work.
If you need help with your Arbeitszeugnisse or have any sort of question, don't hesitate to ask!
Cheers
Andre