German Female Executives Stretch For Glass Ceiling

While women in western countries worry about hitting a business 'glass ceiling,' German female executives find the glass out of reach. Given the sacrifice, social disdain, and hard work, few women approach the German glass ceiling.

Upon joining a German company, the atmosphere was warm and gracious. At the first major management team meeting, I noticed only three of the thirty of more of us were women. Within a couple of years only one remained.

German businessmen struggle to imagine a woman beyond the traditional family head of household. 'Kinder, Küche, Kirche' - children, kitchen, church is the time-honored female role. That philosophy remains on the minds of some key German leaders. When asked if Germany should establish quotas for women on business boards, Deutsche Bank CEO, Joseph Ackerman, admitted no women sat on the DB Board, but added, "But I hope that it will one day be more colorful - and prettier, too." Of the 30 major companies that comprise the German stock exchange, DAX, only three women sit on their boards.

I spoke about women in German management with two of my female colleagues. Becoming a German female executive requires a clear choice between family and career. Both were single. Those that attempt to work and raise a family become Rabbenmutter, or raven mothers. German society does not support women who sacrifice a child's well-being for a career.

Those that forsake motherhood must work harder than their male colleagues must. The German business culture believes overtime is a sign of inefficiency. Both of my colleagues worked late into the night in an attempt to outperform male counterparts.

There long hours and successes did not necessarily enrich them. A 2009 survey by the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW) found women managers made 25% less than males in comparable jobs. While my German female colleagues accepted the gap, women executives in our American division demanded and received comparable pay.

The environment is slowly changing for German female executives. Angela Merkel became Germany's first female executive. Deutsche Telekom is the first company to apply quotas with a goal of 30% of management positions to going to women, worldwide, by 2015. Germany, a rules and law culture, is implementing stronger sexual harassment in the workplace laws. Perhaps both the environment and opportunities for women managers in Germany is about to transform.

I spoke with the surviving female executive at my former German company. She is the Chief Marketing Officer. One of her key lieutenants is a woman. As young women look-up and see a few German female executives touching that high glass ceiling, perhaps more will stretch.

How to Answer BPO Interview Questions

So, you have applied to work for a BPO company. Great. The funny thing about this though is that most people do not even know what BPO stands for when they apply for this job. (It means Business Process Outsourcing by the way). Now the reason most people are interested in these jobs is they think it is some type of easy call center job or an employment opportunities that only requires people with little to know education. This is often true, causing the outsourcing jobs to commonly go to foreigners who hardly speak English. However, what is ironic is these foreigners are often better suited for these jobs because they actually know what they are applying for and how to answers BPO interview questions well. There is no reason any English speaking citizen should be losing jobs to people in other countries and by learning a few simple tricks you will not have this problem.

First and foremost you must know exactly what the company you are applying for does. Business Process Outsourcing involves a company (usually very large) outsourcing its jobs to smaller companies. These are usually IT related job or very often phone center related. This is why when you call some big companies numbers you end up talking to someone in India.

Now, after you have applied you are going to have to get prepared for the interview. The good new is that BPO interview questions are usually very generic and can easily be anticipated. For the most part these companies are only looking for two things in an employee that is not in a management position. The first thing they will always try to make sure of is that you know what you are going to be expected to do. If you walk into the interview not fully understanding the job you are applying for fully you might as well not even go. None the less, all you really need to know is some basic information about business out processing and the background of the company you are applying for. If you rattle that information off they will usually assume you are good to go.

Secondly, most businesses are looking for emotional stability. This may seem a bit weird, but in call center jobs and customer service areas you will constantly have to deal with frustrated customers. The interviewer is looking for someone that can keep their cool and will not get dragged into an argument with an angry customer. Basically, just remember to always remain confident and friendly during the interview. When they give you hypothetical situations, think of the most positive outcome and confidently come up with a plan of action.