My First Check24 Interview: A Nervous Expat’s Tale

Getting Ready: A Bit of German Jitters

Okay, deep breaths. I’d been working as a freelance web developer in Berlin for about six months – a great experience, but let’s be honest, finding a permanent job felt a bit like searching for a lost Schlüssel (key). Then I saw the posting for a Senior Microservices Developer at Check24. It was exactly what I was looking for – modern tech, serious projects, and a company that seemed…well, actually friendly. I’d practiced my German in the mirror, rehearsed answers, and even quizzed a friend, Sarah, who’s fluent. The interview itself felt like a huge step. I really wanted this.

Guten Tag, Herr Müller!

The room was bright, open-plan, and smelled faintly of coffee. “Guten Tag, Herr Müller!” I said, trying to sound confident. Herr Müller, the hiring manager, smiled. “Schön, dass Sie da sind. Könnten Sie uns zunächst kurz erzählen, warum Sie sich für diese Position bei Check24 interessieren?”

I took a sip of water, trying to calm my nerves. “Guten Tag! I find Check24 very spannend – really interesting. I’ve been following your work for a while, especially the apps. And I really like the idea of working with modern technologies, particularly Microservices. The chance to improve financial and insurance products feels like a really valuable challenge. It’s a big step up from my freelance work, but I’m ready for it.” I hoped that sounded enthusiastic enough.

Spring Boot and REST APIs – My Comfort Zone

“Können Sie uns bitte etwas mehr zu Ihrer Erfahrung mit Spring Boot und REST APIs sagen? Haben Sie schon komplexe Architekturen entwickelt?”

“Sicher,” I replied, feeling a bit more relaxed. “I’ve mainly worked with Spring Boot for REST APIs in the last two years. We built a Microservice-Architektur for a project – it was quite complex. We used Spring Boot and Spring Cloud to connect the services. We had to communicate through REST APIs. It wasn’t always easy to debug, but that’s part of learning, right?”

Herr Müller nodded. “Sehr gut. Und wie sieht es mit der Datenbanken-Auswahl aus? Haben Sie viel Erfahrung mit MongoDB und MySQL?”

“Wir nutzen sowohl MySQL als auch MongoDB,” I explained. “For the core systems, we used MySQL – it’s good for structured data. And for user data and flexible structures, we used MongoDB. I’ve worked with optimizing queries and making sure the data was consistent. It’s important to have both, I think.” I realised I might have used the word ‘consistent’ too many times.

Clean Code – It’s More Than Just Pretty

“Wir legen Wert auf CI/CD und Clean Code. Können Sie uns ein Beispiel nennen, wie Sie Clean Code praktizieren? Das ist ein wichtiger Punkt für uns.”

“Gerne,” I said, scrambling to think of something concrete. “I always try to write code that’s easy to read and maintain. That means giving variables and methods good names, breaking the code into small, manageable functions, and using comments only when they’re truly necessary. And I use code-style-checker tools to make sure everything follows the guidelines.” I realized I was rambling a little. I felt my face get hot.

Teamwork and Learning – The Key Ingredients

“Wie stellen Sie sich die Zusammenarbeit im Team vor? Und wie sieht es mit Ihrer Bereitschaft zur Weiterbildung aus?”

“Ich bin ein Teamplayer,” I said, trying to sound natural. “I value open communication. I believe we can solve the best solutions together. And I’m always ready to learn new things, especially Kubernetes – we’re using it here. It’s important to stay up-to-date, isn’t it?”

The Project & Documentation – What I Expected

“Könnten Sie uns noch kurz sagen, was Sie von den Aufgaben in diesem Projekt erwarten?”

“Wir haben ein sehr spannendes Projekt im Auge,” I responded. “From the job description, I understand I’ll be helping to develop and improve your financial and insurance products, using modern technologies, and taking responsibility for the entire project lifecycle – from design to implementation to quality assurance. That sounds really motivating.”

“Wissen Sie, wie Sie mit der Dokumentation umgehen?”

“Ich bin sehr daran interessiert, eine gute Dokumentation zu erstellen und zu pflegen,” I said. “It’s so important for the team and for future developers. I think it’s key to understanding how everything works.”

Questions and Confirmation

Then came the questions! He asked about the team structure, the programming languages (Python and JavaScript too!), performance optimization, and how to fix a bug. I answered as best I could, trying to show my systematic approach. I even asked a question about the microservice team structure – a slightly awkward moment.

Karriereplanung – The Final Question

“Haben Sie Fragen an uns?” Herr Müller asked.

“Ja, ich hätte noch eine Frage zur langfristigen Karriereplanung innerhalb des Unternehmens. Gibt es Möglichkeiten für Weiterentwicklung und Spezialisierung im Bereich Microservices?”

“Wir fördern unsere Mitarbeiter sehr. Wir legen Wert auf Weiterbildung und bieten entsprechende Möglichkeiten.”

The End

“Vielen Dank für das Gespräch!” I said, feeling a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

As I left, I thought, “Okay, that wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined. Now, to wait for a response…and maybe brush up on my German grammar.”