Kultur 9

Kultur 9
The German obsession with paper work seems to fit their stereotype of being a neat and orderly people. There are some jobs in the U.S. that have longer applications, major positions and sophisticated internships tend to take a closer look at your background and require more paperwork than being a bag boy at the local supermarket. This is not the case in Germany however; all positions there require an inordinate amount of paperwork to be employed. Employees in Germany are required to provide certificates for their past jobs, language expertise and any motivational courses they have taken. This is one aspect that is completely foreign to me, what are motivational courses and why are they so important to a job? Typically in the US the employer will teach the employee how things are done at that company, in Germany this makes me think that there are standard ways of doing each job that are taught by outside companies which are required before a job can be obtained. Another aspect that surprised me of German record keeping was that students have to provide evidence before they are allowed to take their final exams. In the US no one really cares who takes the exam or whether you show up or not. Germany seems much more organized on every level than the US, an aspect of their culture I like.