German language tests are designed to quickly establish an individual's proficiency level in the German language.
A German language test assesses someone's proficiency in reading and writing in German. Typically it will cover areas such as comprehension, grammar, sentence composition and the nuances of everyday and business language.
The test will include language relating to a variety of contexts, such as business scenarios, formal and informal language, and precise translation.
Those who do well at the test demonstrate the potential to understand non-complex professional copy (such as emails or reports) and communicate their ideas in German at an intermediate level with colleagues or clients.
German Language Test
German is spoken by approximately 130 million people globally – the majority in Germany (80 million), followed by Austria, Belgium and Switzerland. Because of Germany's position as the economic powerhouse of the European Union, German is considered an important business language, and hence a test for proficiency could be useful to assess candidates' fluency.
It's difficult for recruiters or hiring managers to assess the precise level of fluency in another language, especially if they don't speak it to that level themselves. An applicant may state on their CV that they have intermediate fluency in German – but what does that mean, and how can you be sure?
A German language test solves that problem, and can be easily administered to a large pool of candidates to provide comparative data.
The test evaluates their mastery of basic grammar, reading comprehension, and formal idioms. A recruiter can then see which of the applicants has the highest level of fluency in German overall.
Those who best meet the German language requirement can then be moved to the next stage, with the applicants who didn't possess the required level eliminated. This makes for a much more efficient hiring process, saving the need to interview numerous candidates in German by phone or face-to-face.
Job roles for which German proficiency might be a prerequisite include:
Proficiency in German could also be helpful for any business with operations in the German market, or with clients from German-speaking countries.
Ich ____ zur Post gestern, aber sie war geschlossen. Ich ____ es morgen nochmal versuchen.
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Results for the German Language Test along with other assessments the candidate takes will be compiled to produce a candidate report. The report is automatically generated and available both online and as a downloadable pdf so they can be shared with other team members and employees alike.
In Picked's German language test, candidates will need to answer a range of questions covering grammar, spelling, vocabulary, common phrases, and reading comprehension. With a varying degree of difficulty around the Common European Framework B2 (upper intermediate) level, the test questions are designed to indicate how well a candidate comprehends German.
The test avoids requiring any irrelevant knowledge from the candidate aside from language proficiency; thus it is general enough to be used for any job requiring German. All questions are multiple-choice: a format familiar to most candidates that allows for immediate, objective scoring.
The response options aside from the correct answer, called distractors, are mostly common mistakes or misconceptions, which enhances the question's ability to accurately measure a candidate's proficiency.
During the development process, this test was rigorously analysed to maximise reliability and validity in line with industry best practices. It was written, examined and revised by German language and psychometric experts, and field-tested with a representative sample of job applicants.
In other words, this test empirically demonstrates consistency and measures the language as intended. Raw scores are provided for each candidate to indicate how they perform relative to one another.
Regarding the candidate's experience, this test has been reviewed by a panel of individuals representing diverse backgrounds to check for any sensitivity, fairness, face validity and accessibility issues. This ensures each candidate has a fair chance of demonstrating their true level of German proficiency and feels the test is reasonable.
This test is also monitored on an ongoing basis to optimise performance and is analysed regularly for fairness issues.
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“We used Picked as part of our Finance Graduate Scheme recruitment and it was just what we needed – really simple to send candidates the link to complete and clear to see how they all compared. And great value for money!”
Christoph Langenmaier is a German-Australian native with more than a decade of experience in creative digital content design and marketing. He is fully certified by NAATI (Systematic Translations) in the field of professional translations (English & German). He graduated from Heidelberg University with a degree in German Language/Linguistics and Media.
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The Common European Framework (CEF) uses six levels. Beginners are classed as A1, and basic German knowledge as A2. Intermediate and upper intermediate proficiency are classed as B1 and B2 respectively, with advanced as C1. Proficiency (C2) is approaching fluency.
By taking a language test, candidates can demonstrate to a potential employer or educational institution at what level their current competency in German lies. This will often be broken down by categories such as reading, writing, listening and speaking.
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