German B2 is a hard requirement for every tech role on my team. No exceptions.
I know how that sounds. In tech, English is supposed to be the default. So why block a great engineer over a language test?
We interviewed a senior engineer with a great background, a proven track record, and a colleague who knew him personally and vouched for his skills and character. On paper, exactly the candidate I'd hoped to find.
Except for one thing: His German was only A2.
There was a real fight in me over this one. I couldn't just decide alone, so I brought it to my team.
Hiring him meant the team would have to shift — meetings, documentation, daily messages, all currently in German. Beyond that, I worried he might feel isolated and struggle to truly integrate into the company culture. All the internal communication is in German.
We decided not to hire him.
It wasn't about whether he was good enough. He clearly was. It was about whether the team could function well around him and whether he would be comfortable with the company culture.
That decision is easier for me now. I know exactly why the language requirement exists — not as a formality, but as something that protects how the team actually works together.
How do you see this problem?
This is part of my "100 Days of Year One" series. Follow along as I share what I've learned in my first year as Head of Data and Cloud.