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I recently attended an event on the topic of ‘Job application trends and applications with the help of AI’, organized by the Grman job agency. An exciting topic, I thought. But what followed was a lesson on why Germany is still miles behind when it comes to skill-based hiring.
Arriving at my destination – just like in real life
Thanks to the Berlin S-Bahn, I was late. Delays everywhere, of course. When I finally arrived, all the seats were taken. So I stood with many others, like at a school fair. An excited crowd waited.
The big reveal: ‘What is a prompt?’
The presentation began. After a lot of talk, we finally got to the topic of AI. The first slide: ‘What is a prompt?’
I had to laugh inside – and cry at the same time. While elsewhere people are already talking about practical application scenarios, here we are still stuck with the absolute basics.
My interjection: ‘GDPR and Mistral!’
When the topic of data protection came up, I couldn’t help myself. I spoke up: ‘Why not use Mistral? Developed in France, GDPR-compliant, a real alternative.’
The ‘expert’s’ response: ‘Does the tool understand German or only French?’
At that moment, I realised how big the gap is between buzzword presentations and real, practical knowledge.
The QR code and the uncomfortable truth
After the session, I gave the speaker my document with a QR code to my Google site. I said:
‘I can’t find a job in Germany because they expect my cleaning lady to have a degree in business administration, while the rest of the world has long since switched to skill-based hiring.’
Her response: ‘Yes, that hasn’t arrived here yet and will take a while.’
My spontaneous reply: ‘A while is too long.’
Conclusion: it’s time for a revolution
Germany cannot afford to lose talent just because processes are stifled by formalities. Skill-based hiring is not a vision of the future, but has long been a reality in many parts of the world.
And AI is not the enemy, but the tool that helps us shape this reality.
That’s why I developed my own AI application assistants – practical, GDPR-compliant and skills-oriented. Here is my page with solutions for fast and effective applications.
