u/igottomakeit

Hey everyone,

I recently graduated in Germany and I’m currently looking for my first full-time job. Next week I have two final-round interviews:

• one with a startup
• one with a Big4 company

For both processes I already went through several rounds (technical interviews, coding challenge, etc.), so these are really the final steps.

Honestly, what stresses me the most right now is what happens afterwards. I’ve never received a job offer before, so I don’t really know how to handle these situations professionally.

My main goal right now is simply to get at least one of the two jobs 😅
(Of course, I’m also aware that I might end up getting rejected by both.)

But at the same time, I keep wondering:

• What happens if I actually get two offers?
• Do companies usually give enough time to decide?
• Is asking for 1–2 weeks to think about it considered normal?

And especially my biggest concern:

What if the startup gives me an offer very quickly, but the Big4 company still needs 1–2 more weeks to make a decision?
Is it acceptable in that situation to politely ask the startup for more time without risking losing the offer?

If anyone has experience with a similar situation in Germany, I’d really appreciate any advice.

Hey zusammen,

ich habe meinen Abschluss gemacht und suche aktuell meinen ersten Vollzeitjob. Nächste Woche habe ich direkt zwei Final-Round-Interviews:

• eins bei einem Startup
• eins bei einer Big4

Für beide Prozesse habe ich schon mehrere Runden geschafft (Technical Interviews, Coding Challenge, usw.), also sind das wirklich die letzten Schritte.

Ehrlich gesagt stresst mich gerade vor allem die Situation danach. Ich hatte bisher noch nie ein Jobangebot und weiß deshalb nicht wirklich, wie man damit professionell umgeht.

Mein Ziel ist einfach, wenigstens eines der beiden Jobs zu bekommen 😅( Natürlich ist mir auch bewusst, dass ich am Ende vielleicht von beiden keine Zusage bekomme )

Aber gleichzeitig frage ich mich:

• Was passiert, wenn ich tatsächlich zwei Angebote bekomme?
• Hat man normalerweise genug Zeit, um sich zu entscheiden?
• Ist es üblich, 1–2 Wochen Bedenkzeit zu bekommen?

Und speziell meine größte Sorge:

Was wäre, wenn das Startup sehr schnell ein Angebot macht, die Big4 aber noch 1–2 Wochen für die Entscheidung braucht?
Kann man in so einer Situation das Startup höflich um etwas Zeit bitten, ohne dass sie das Angebot zurückziehen?

Falls jemand Erfahrungen mit Big4 oder Startups in Deutschland hat, würde ich mich echt über Tipps freuen.

I graduated at the end of 2025 in Germany and I have been trying to find a job since then. I have done a lot of interviews over the past months. The frustrating part is that I often make it very far in the process. I reached the final round multiple times after passing interviews and coding challenges, but somehow I always end up getting rejected at the end.

In some cases they told me they decided not to hire anyone anymore for the role. In other cases they said they were looking for someone more senior. But most of the time I just get a generic rejection without any explanation. So honestly I started feeling like I am probably the reason.

What really bothers me is that I cannot figure out what exactly I am doing wrong. After every rejection I replay the interviews in my head again and again trying to understand what happened or what I could have said differently. It seriously became exhausting mentally and it is making me doubt myself a lot.

The confusing part is that during the interviews everything usually feels positive. The conversations go well, they seem interested, they invite me to the next rounds, and then suddenly comes the rejection.

Right now I actually have 3 potential opportunities and I really do not want to mess them up again.

The first company is already at the final phase and I have a meeting with them soon.

The second company already did two interviews with me plus a coding challenge, and now I am waiting to know if they will reject me or move me to the final phase.

The third company is still at an early stage, but I felt like they had a positive impression of me and I will probably continue with them.

So at this point I am basically trying to finally get at least one offer.

That is why I wanted to ask people with more experience here:

Why would a company reject someone after already doing two interviews, passing a test or coding challenge, and still being invited to the final round?

What are the common things that can go wrong at that stage even when everything seems positive?

I know nobody here can know my exact situation, but maybe there is something important that I am missing.

I graduated at the end of 2025 in Germany and I have been trying to find a job since then. I have done a lot of interviews over the past months. The frustrating part is that I often make it very far in the process. I reached the final round multiple times after passing interviews and coding challenges, but somehow I always end up getting rejected at the end.

In some cases they told me they decided not to hire anyone anymore for the role. In other cases they said they were looking for someone more senior. But most of the time I just get a generic rejection without any explanation. So honestly I started feeling like I am probably the reason.

What really bothers me is that I cannot figure out what exactly I am doing wrong. After every rejection I replay the interviews in my head again and again trying to understand what happened or what I could have said differently. It seriously became exhausting mentally and it is making me doubt myself a lot.

The confusing part is that during the interviews everything usually feels positive. The conversations go well, they seem interested, they invite me to the next rounds, and then suddenly comes the rejection.

Right now I actually have 3 potential opportunities and I really do not want to mess them up again.

The first company is already at the final phase and I have a meeting with them soon.

The second company already did two interviews with me plus a coding challenge, and now I am waiting to know if they will reject me or move me to the final phase.

The third company is still at an early stage, but I felt like they had a positive impression of me and I will probably continue with them.

So at this point I am basically trying to finally get at least one offer.

That is why I wanted to ask people with more experience here:

Why would a company reject someone after already doing two interviews, passing a test or coding challenge, and still being invited to the final round?

What are the common things that can go wrong at that stage even when everything seems positive?

I know nobody here can know my exact situation, but maybe there is something important that I am missing.

I just realized today how much I miss randomly chatting to people on here.

The last few years kind of swept me up with life, trying to get back on my feet, figuring things out, surviving more than really connecting. And somewhere along the way I stopped having those random conversations with strangers that used to make the internet feel a little more human.

So… I guess I’m looking for a chat partner.

Nothing complicated. Just genuine conversations about life, random thoughts, music, games, bad days, good days, or whatever comes up naturally.

Hi everyone,

I graduated several months ago in Germany. After graduating, I decided to live off my savings and focus completely on the job application process. I had many interviews, and because I always felt hopeful that I would eventually get hired, I did not look for another job to support myself while applying.

Unfortunately, the process has taken longer than expected, and my savings are getting low. Since last week, I have started applying less intensely, and now I am thinking about finding a job for one or two months just to get back on my feet financially.

I am open to working in almost any field right now. The problem is that since I came to Germany, the jobs I have done were always somehow related to my studies, so I am not really sure where to look for temporary or flexible jobs outside my field.

Does anyone have suggestions for jobs I could do short-term in Germany? Where should I look for them? For example, are there specific websites, agencies, apps, or types of companies that hire quickly?

I also tried signing up for some job apps, but because I am no longer a student, some of them did not allow me to register. So I would especially appreciate recommendations for platforms or options that are open to graduates/non-students.

Also, I am currently on a job-seeking visa. Could that be a problem for temporary jobs? I am worried employers might not want to hire me if they know I may only stay for a short time, especially if I am still looking for a job related to my studies.

Any advice or personal experiences would be really appreciated.

Thank you!