Application myths and what the research says

27 %

What's true In Germany in 2025, about one in four hires came about through personal contacts (27 per cent); from 2015 to 2025 the figure was 27 to 37 per cent. Online channels such as job boards and company websites were decisive in just over half of all hires in 2025.

Where it comes from The 85 per cent comes from a 2016 LinkedIn post by a recruitment consultant based on self-selected responses; the 70 to 80 per cent comes from advice books of the 1970s and 1980s with no traceable study behind them.

Use job boards, company websites and contacts in parallel; with small businesses, direct contact is especially worthwhile, as almost one in two hires there in 2016 came about through contacts.

Sources: IAB-Stellenerhebung: Kubis 2026, IAB-Forum; IAB-Stellenerhebung, time series 2015 to 2022: Federal Government 2024, Bundestagsdrucksache 20/10904

What's true More applications are only weakly linked to more interviews and offers, and not at all to better jobs. People who plan their search, clarify their goals and tailor their applications closely are more likely to find a job that actually suits them.

Where it comes from Advice statistics such as “100 applications until you get a job”, taken from online surveys with no methodology.

Set yourself weekly goals for a few targeted applications, and if you've had no interviews after two to three months, change your strategy, not just the number.

Sources: van Hooft et al. 2021, Journal of Applied Psychology; Faberman & Kudlyak 2019, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics

7 %

What's true In Germany in 2021 and 2022, social media were the decisive route in around 7 per cent of hires. Job boards, company websites and personal contacts led to the job far more often.

Where it comes from The messaging of media outlets and platforms that emphasise their own importance.

Keep your profile complete and up to date, because it can help; but still send targeted applications rather than waiting to be approached.

Source: IAB-Stellenerhebung, time series 2015 to 2022: Federal Government 2024, Bundestagsdrucksache 20/10904

16 seconds

What's true The first glance is short, that's true. But the only scientific eye-tracking study measures an average of around 16 seconds per CV (a lab in the USA, mostly students), and the eye falls first on career history, job titles, dates and education.

Where it comes from A five-page promotional brochure from the job site TheLadders from 2012, with 30 recruiters and no methods section.

Build the first page so that your roles, dates and qualifications can be taken in at a glance, and avoid long blocks of text at the top.

Sources: Lahey & Oxley 2021, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management; TheLadders 2012, company brochure (origin of the 6 seconds)

What's true There is no traceable study and no method behind this figure. Applicant tracking systems mainly sort and filter; hard automatic rejections usually concern criteria such as work permit, location or mandatory qualifications.

Where it comes from A marketing claim by the CV service provider Preptel, first traceable in a Computerworld article from 2012.

Use terms from the job ad naturally, choose a common file format and answer hard criteria unambiguously; you don't need tricks like white text.

What's true In a large Swedish experiment, earlier breaks that had already ended had no measurable effect. Studies show disadvantages mainly for long current unemployment and, in a US experiment, for a family break that is still ongoing at the time of applying.

Where it comes from Advice-book folklore and gap filters that individual employers set up in their software.

Explain breaks briefly and factually, for example further training, caring for a relative or family time, and show why you're coming back motivated now.

Sources: Eriksson & Rooth 2014, American Economic Review; Weisshaar 2018, American Sociological Review

What's true No study supporting this was found. In Germany, two pages are usual.

Where it comes from A convention from US advice books.

More important than the number of pages is that your most important roles catch the eye immediately on the first page.

What's true The figures come from small experiments in which people had to interpret feelings from single spoken words and photos when tone of voice and word contradicted each other. They do not apply as a general rule for conversations.

Where it comes from Two studies by Albert Mehrabian from 1967, summarised in his 1971 book “Silent Messages” and later heavily overgeneralised.

Prepare concrete examples from your work: what you say really does count in an interview.

Sources: Mehrabian & Wiener 1967, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Lapakko 2007, Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

What's true A large replication with 200 people found no effect on hormones or risk-taking, only a slightly increased feeling of power. According to a meta-analysis, the most that helps is not sitting slumped; compared with a normal posture, the pose achieves practically nothing.

Where it comes from A 2010 study by Carney et al. with 42 people and Amy Cuddy's TED talk; the first author herself no longer believes the effects are real.

Sit up straight before the appointment and take a few calm breaths; you don't need a victory pose.

Sources: Ranehill et al. 2015, Psychological Science; Elkjær et al. 2022, Perspectives on Psychological Science

5 %

What's true There is no evidence for the 90 seconds. In a US field study with 166 interviewers, according to a report on the study, only around 5 per cent of decisions were made in the first minute, most of them after 5 to 15 minutes; it is a single study based on self-reports.

Where it comes from Popular advice books on making an impression in “90 seconds or less” and older studies on snap judgements, such as Springbett 1958.

A friendly opening and a good first answer help, but don't give up after a bumpy start: the interview counts right to the end.

Source: Frieder et al. 2016, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

12 to 19%

What's true In experiments, interviewers detected only 12 to 19 per cent of deception tactics, and professional experience did not help. At the same time, honest self-presentation is more common among applicants than deception.

Where it comes from The self-image of many recruiters.

Show your strengths with confidence, but don't make anything up: whatever you claim in the interview, you have to be able to live up to in the job.

Source: Melchers et al. 2020, International Journal of Selection and Assessment

What's true After correcting for biases in the research, the advantage or disadvantage of naming a figure first is small to zero. The level of the figure has a stronger effect: an ambitious, well-reasoned offer pulls the outcome upwards, while an excessive one makes negotiations fail more often (mostly lab studies).

Where it comes from Sales folklore along the lines of “never make the first offer”.

If you're asked, give the figure you've prepared from market data; if the other side names a low figure first, keep orienting yourself by your own data.

Source: Petrowsky et al. 2025, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

What's true No primary source was found for this rule of thumb. What you ask for should be based on the market for the job you're applying for, not on your old salary; excessive demands make negotiations fail more often, and in Germany in 2011 there was any individual negotiation at all in only just over a third of new hires.

Where it comes from A rule of thumb from advice books and job boards whose origin cannot be traced.

Derive your figure from salary data such as the Entgeltatlas or Lohnspiegel and from the job ad, and set it at the upper end of what you can justify.

Sources: Petrowsky et al. 2025, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; Brenzel et al. 2014, Labour Economics

What's true A meta-analysis of over 17,000 people finds only a small difference, which has shrunk since 1977 and depends heavily on context. When a US job ad stated explicitly that the salary was negotiable, women and men negotiated about equally often in a large field experiment.

Where it comes from The book “Women Don't Ask” by Babcock and Laschever (2003), based on small surveys and extrapolations.

Ask actively whether the salary is negotiable, and back up your figure with market data and what you bring to the role.

Sources: Kugler et al. 2018, Psychological Bulletin; Leibbrandt & List 2015, Management Science

What's true In experiments, precise figures often led to more accommodating counter-offers, including in salary scenarios. With experienced professionals, however, too much precision can seem implausible, and round offers are accepted outright more often.

Where it comes from A study by Mason et al. (2013) and negotiation guides that generalise it.

A slightly uneven, well-justified figure can help; with experienced HR staff you don't need false precision down to the last euro.

Sources: Loschelder et al. 2016, Psychological Science; Leib et al. 2021, Management Science

59 to 66 days

What's true In the two studies that measured this, it took a median of 59 and 66 days, and the ranges ran from 4 to 335 days. Missing a single day hardly matters.

Where it comes from The book “Psycho-Cybernetics” (1960) by a cosmetic surgeon who observed that patients got used to their new appearance in about 21 days.

Link your application routine to a fixed trigger, such as your first coffee, and expect it to take around two months before it runs on its own.

Sources: Lally et al. 2010, European Journal of Social Psychology; Singh et al. 2024, Healthcare

What's true This study does not exist. Librarians at Harvard and Yale have never found it, and Harvard Library calls it an “urban legend”.

Where it comes from Motivational books and seminars since the 1980s.

Write your goals down anyway and keep a written record of your progress: regularly recording progress has been shown to improve goal attainment.

Source: Harvard Library, Ask a Librarian: Harvard/Yale study on written goals

What's true SMART is a mnemonic from a two-page management article with no data. The “A” or “R” for achievable or realistic only partly fits the research, according to which challenging, specific goals achieve more than easy ones.

Where it comes from An article by George Doran in 1981 in the journal Management Review, often wrongly attributed to Peter Drucker.

Set yourself specific, challenging goals for things that are within your control, and for new tasks add a learning goal such as “I'll talk to three people from my target industry”.

Source: Swann et al. 2023, Health Psychology Review

What's true Two large, pre-registered replications with 23 and 36 labs found no effect or only a tiny one. Feeling tired after a long day is real, but it is not an empty tank of self-control.

Where it comes from The strength model by Baumeister et al. (1998) and an early meta-analysis whose effect was inflated by publication bias.

Shape your environment instead of relying on discipline: phone in another room, application folder open, fixed working hours.

Sources: Hagger et al. 2016, Perspectives on Psychological Science; Vohs et al. 2021, Psychological Science

What's true Whether a job matches your interests makes you only slightly more satisfied on average. Satisfaction is more closely linked to whether you experience the job as a good fit and see meaning in the work; passion often only grows with experience.

Where it comes from Career guides and speeches along the lines of “Do what you love”.

Try things out, stick with them even when it gets difficult, and after a few weeks check what keeps you going.

Sources: Hoff et al. 2020, Journal of Vocational Behavior; O'Keefe et al. 2018, Psychological Science

What's true The types do not exist empirically as separate groups, and there is no validation for career recommendations. If you are close to a scale boundary, you can easily get a different type the next time you take the test.

Where it comes from The publisher's marketing and its wide use in HR development.

Use a result as a conversation starter at most; for feedback on your personality, Big Five methods have better evidence behind them.

Source: McCrae & Costa 1989, Journal of Personality

What's true Suitable experiments have not confirmed that teaching matched to a person's learning style works better. Preferences do exist, but adapting to them does not improve learning outcomes.

Where it comes from Commercial learning style tests, and in Germany above all the book “Denken, Lernen, Vergessen” by Frederic Vester (1975).

When studying for a training course, test yourself and spread your revision over several days rather than rereading and highlighting.

Sources: Pashler et al. 2008, Psychological Science in the Public Interest; Brown 2023, Frontiers in Education

What's true After a voluntary change, satisfaction in German data rises noticeably in the first year, but most of the boost is lost again. After an involuntary change, for example due to a business closure, there was no boost at all.

Where it comes from Press releases on short-term comparisons, such as “almost 20 per cent more satisfied”, which are based on a calculation mix-up.

Expect a dip after the change and then look at specific problems, rather than questioning your decision straight away.

Source: Chadi & Hetschko 2018, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy

What's true The start does matter: how well you are supported in the first weeks predicts later outcomes. But satisfaction changes over the whole first year, and 90 days is not a measured threshold.

Where it comes from The practical book “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins (2003) and an onboarding guide that cites the 90 days without evidence.

Actively ask for feedback in the first weeks and agree with your manager how your success will be measured after three and after six months.

Sources: Kammeyer-Mueller et al. 2013, Academy of Management Journal; Boswell et al. 2009, Journal of Applied Psychology

What's true The text of the survey announcement says: just under half have at some point quit a job within the first year. That is a figure covering a whole working life, not a share of probationary periods, and the method and sample size are not given; no reliable figure for all employment relationships in Germany was found.

Where it comes from XING surveys from 2023 and 2026, spread by online magazines.

Don't let figures like these unsettle you; if things aren't going smoothly at the start, raise it with your manager early on.

Source: XING survey 2026, report on onlinemarketing.de

95 vs 34%

What's true A job below your level gets you back into work quickly: in German data, 95 rather than 34 per cent were in work after six months. But it often keeps you stuck: a year later, the chance of a suitable job was 40 percentage points lower, and the gap lasted for up to five years.

Where it comes from The stepping-stone hypothesis, a widespread piece of wisdom in job placement.

If you take a job below your level, make a plan from the start for how you'll grow out of it again, for example through further training or an internal application after a year.

Source: Voßemer & Schuck 2016, European Sociological Review

What's true Mentoring goes along with somewhat better outcomes, such as greater satisfaction, but the effects are consistently small. For pay and promotion they are very small, and the data are mostly correlational.

Where it comes from Advertising for mentoring programmes, and advice books.

By all means accept mentoring, because it helps you settle in, but don't expect it to give your career a leap on its own.

Source: Eby et al. 2008, Journal of Vocational Behavior

56 %

What's true Of the businesses that received applications from people aged 50 and over in 2014, 56 per cent also hired at least one person aged 50 or over (IAB employer survey). Discrimination is real, and in experiments older applicants are invited to interview less often, but it does not mean exclusion.

Where it comes from Overgeneralising studies on age discrimination.

Describe your relevant experience from the last 10 to 15 years in concrete terms and show recent further training.

Source: Czepek & Moczall 2017, IAB-Kurzbericht 08/2017

What's true In a Belgian experiment with 610 HR professionals, age signals such as old-fashioned hobbies still had an effect, and CVs without a date of birth were rated slightly worse overall. It is a single study with hypothetical ratings.

Where it comes from Advice-book folklore.

Rather than hiding your age, fill the years visibly with relevant, recent experience and further training.

Source: Derous & Decoster 2017, Frontiers in Psychology

3 to 5.7%

What's true A more recent study using West German register data finds 3 to 5.7 per cent lower pay on return per year of interruption; the 10 to 20 per cent comes from older estimates. The data date from before the introduction of Elterngeld (parental allowance) in 2007.

Where it comes from Older West German studies.

In Germany, the biggest losses come from working fewer hours: plan your return early, ideally to your previous employer, and increase your hours again later on.

Source: Ejrnæs & Kunze 2013, Scandinavian Journal of Economics

around 11%

What's true In Germany, people with a doctorate work in jobs that match their qualification more often than those without one, and in the private sector they earn around 11 per cent more with comparable characteristics. The only true part: in business, the level fits more often than the subject.

Where it comes from Individual experiences and the debate about fixed-term positions in academia.

Translate your doctorate into skills such as project management, analysis and methodological expertise, rather than just naming your research topic.

Source: Bundesbericht Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs 2021, Bundestagsdrucksache 19/29090