IT Interview Practice for Russian Speakers (Germany)
Practise the questions a IT professional interview actually asks, and see where your English is costing you marks before the real thing. Built for people who moved from Russian-speaking countries and are interviewing in Germany.
What a IT professional interview asks
These recur across employers because they are what the decision turns on.
- Walk me through a system or feature you built. What did you decide, and why?
- Tell me about a technical trade-off you made and what it cost you.
- Describe a bug that took you a long time to find. How did you find it?
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision on your team.
- How do you explain a technical problem to somebody who is not technical?
What Russian speakers commonly say in English
These are habits, not mistakes about intelligence — your first language works differently, and it shows through under interview pressure.
Article dropping
Often said: I led team.
Instead: I led the team.
Missing 'to be'
Often said: I responsible.
Instead: I am responsible.
Word order flexibility
Often said: Project very complex was.
Instead: The project was very complex.
How interviews run in Germany
Talking about your own work
Factual and precise. Back every claim with data. Avoid vague superlatives.
What interviewers here tend to value
- Precision
- Reliability
- Technical expertise
- Thoroughness
- Qualifications
What catches people out
- Being too casual
- Vague answers without data
- Not including certificates
- Poor punctuality
What is expected of your English
Good English for international roles; many roles require German
Moderate — clarity and precision in language valued
Russian → Germany tech
German tech interviews (esp. Berlin scaleups and Munich engineering) reward technical depth, factual precision, and structured answers. Russian directness is mostly an asset here — German interviewers appreciate it more than UK/US ones. The trap is the opposite: Russian English often comes across as too blunt without softeners, and German interviewers expect Sie/du awareness translated as polite but factual English.
Phrases that carry weight here
- I built the [system] using [stack]. The key trade-off was X — I chose Y because of Z.
- Before my work, [metric] was X. After, it was Y. The change came from [specific decision].
- My German is at [level]. I'm comfortable working in English; I understand more German than I speak comfortably.
Where this pairing usually stumbles
- Sounding too blunt in 'tell me about a time you disagreed' — soften the language even though German workplaces value directness day-to-day
- Pronunciation of 'w' vs 'v' (very/where) — Russian has only 'v'; practice these specifically
- Availability or start-date uncertainty answered with 'I think...' — Germans want a clear, factual answer
Questions worth asking them
- What's the team's preferred architecture for [relevant system]? What would you change if you started today?
- How is the engineering ladder structured here, and what does promotion from [target level] look like?
- What's the language environment day-to-day — English in standups, German in lunch — what's realistic?
Reading about it only takes you so far
Answer a few of these out loud and you will find out, in about five minutes, which part of your English is costing you marks — and what to fix first. Free, and you do not need a card.