How to recruit German-speaking customer service representatives

If you have decided to take on new customer service representatives, you may well be looking for German speakers with relevant experience to be among those joining the team.

But once you have decided you need these team members, how do you go about finding the ideal German-speaking customer service advisor with the right linguistic ability and experience in working with and helping customers? It is true that recruiting new hires can feel a daunting, time-consuming business, but our guide to employing German-speaking customer service specialists is here to help.

Let us not forget that having the right customer service team in place is key in today’s marketplace, and to getting and remaining ahead of the competition (according to US business magazine Forbes, 96% of customers say the service they receive is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand).

Define your ideal candidate’s skills and experiences

Think about your perfect German-speaking customer service representative and ask yourself the following:

• Do they need to be native speakers or is a high level of fluency is enough to meet the requirements of your German-speaking customer service jobs?
• Do you need previous customer service experience, or can you train the right candidate?
• Does your applicant already have permission to work in the country in which you are based?

Create a compelling job description to attract German-speaking applicants

Incorporate the key factors from the list above, and stress any training opportunities, plus whether you cover travel and overseas expenses for overseas applicants.

Be clear about what the job involves, including whether you offer hybrid or flexible working arrangements.

How to make your job post reach the best applicants

As you are hiring German-speaking customer service staff, and may well be doing so from outside Germany, it can be helpful to use customer service recruitment agencies who are also multilingual specialists, such as Recruitment Direct, to reach suitably qualified candidates worldwide.

Review application

Look closely at those applicants who have paid most attention to your job post. Look for how candidates have shown their previous experience is relevant and transferable to your vacancy. Use a screening question or the covering letter (or both) to assess their communication and linguistic skills.

Conduct interviews

Obviously, you will do this once you have shortlisted candidates. You may want to incorporate a customer service role-playing exercise or scenario as well as testing their proficiency in German. Look for people showing empathy, emotional intelligence, problem-solving abilities and communication skills.

Still need help?

If you still feel you need help, contact us at Recruitment Direct. We are multilingual specialists with 24 years’ experience in multilingual and call centre recruitment services and have found our clients many excellent German speaking customer service agents over the years.

Check out our clients’ page and submit your vacancy for German-speaking customer service representatives.

What Dutch-speaking jobs can I get in Europe?

Spoken by about twenty-five million people as a first language and a further five million as a second tongue, Dutch is the third most-widely spoken Germanic language after English and German. Some 60% of the Belgian population speak it, as do most people across Holland’s former colonies such as Aruba and Sint Maarten. Dutch is sought-after by employers as a linguistic skill, with one online recruiter in recent years noting an almost 25% jump in job listings asking for Dutch speakers.

Where can I find Dutch language jobs?

There are also more places across Europe where there are Dutch-speaking jobs than you may have thought – and they are not all based in the Netherlands. So it could be ideal for you if you fancy a spell working abroad.

For example, at Recruitment Direct we have job vacancies asking for this language in:

• Athens, Greece
• Malta
• Barcelona, Spain
• Lisbon, Portugal

What sort of Dutch-speaking job might I be able to find?

There is an excellent variety of opportunities available for which a proficiency in Dutch is a requirement. To give you an idea of Dutch speaking jobs abroad, here are some of the potential openings:

Digital Marketing Consultant

This role involves identifying the best ways of advertising or marketing products or services via a number of digital or online technologies. Currently there are plenty of Dutch-speaking digital marketing vacancies in the Spanish city of Barcelona, where you can expect to earn anywhere between €24,310 and €28,600 annually, with relocation costs on top. As with any role, make sure you meet the job specification’s minimum requirements before applying. For many of these Dutch speaking jobs, you will need you will need at least a year’s experience in advertising, PPC campaigns or sales.

Sales & Marketing

As a sales associate, you will be working closely with customers to identify their requirements, answer questions about the products and services you are selling, while recommending the right solutions. At the same time, you are likely to be resolving customer complaints and working to maximise customer satisfaction.

Once again, successful applicants in this arena will be expected to have previous experience in this area. As examples, you could find yourself working in the Portuguese capital Lisbon (for an annual salary of between €16,000 to €22,000) and in Barcelona for approximately €25,440 to €32,000 a year.

Customer Service

As a customer service representative, you are often the first point of contact for members of the public when someone has a problem. Similarly to a sales role, you will be dealing with complaints, and resolving issues for those using your employer’s services or buying their products.

Dutch speaking customer service jobs are certainly possible. For instance, doing this kind of role in Athens or elsewhere in Greece could earn you between €12,000 and €14,000 a year. Again, if you are looking for Dutch customer service jobs Europe, it would be worth taking a closer look at Lisbon.

Business Developer

For this type of role, you would typically need a BA or BSc degree or an equivalent level of industry experience. Business developers work across a range of different sectors to help organisations meet their commercial aims. They use their sales and business experience roles to bring innovative ideas to a company and its growth within an industry sector.

Take one of these Dutch language jobs in, say, Spain’s second city Barcelona, could net you an annual salary of €23,876 to €27,284 per year.

So there is a huge variety of Dutch language jobs across a broad range of industry sectors, in a number of different European countries, where your linguistic skills will be snapped up.

At Recruitment Direct, we are a multilingual recruitment agency created in 1999. Our three main divisions encompass sales, call centre roles and multilingual recruitment, as well as permanent, temporary and contract positions.

If you’re looking for Dutch language jobs abroad, take a look at the many openings we have up on our job search page.