Below you will find answers to the questions that are most frequently asked about the application procedure at ALTEN.
Subjects
- Getting Started
- Application & Jobs
- Online Application Form
- Application Documents
- Application Process
- Projects
- Students
Getting Started
What type of employees is ALTEN looking for?
We have a high demand for technical specialists, but we are always looking for new people for the business management and back office as well. We also regularly hire students who complement our team and provide targeted support in projects. The first thing we are looking for are the technical and personal skills. It is also important that you care about quality, work independently and enjoy working in international teams. Just take a look on our jobs.
Can I apply at ALTEN Austria with a foreign university degree?
Yes. ALTEN is an international company. Highly-qualified employees from more than 50 nations are working here – and not everbody graduated in Austria. Just search for your dream job in our jobs and check, if you bring along the necessary requirements. For EU citizens and nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aged between 18 and 28, there is another attractive option to start at ALTEN. They can come to us via the voluntary program V.I.E and gain work experience in Germany – limited to a period of max. 24 months. We have to put together additional information on the page volontary program V.I.E.
What is the voluntary program V.I.E?
The voluntary program V.I.E (french: Volontariat International en Entreprise) was initiated by the french agency of foreign trade Business France and allows to work abroad upt to 2 years. You can take part if you are a national of one of the European Economic Area countries, hence a EU citizen or a national of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and aged between 18 and 28. You can expect diverse entry opportunities in which you take over full-fledged projects tasks. We have to put together additional information on the page voluntary program V.I.E.
Which language skills do i need to start at ALTEN?
We regulary cooperate with foreign-language partners and customers. This is why a good English can be advantageous. Additional language skills are welcome at any time. Depending on the project other or more languale skills are required. If a specific language skill is needed, this will be mentioned in the particular job offer.
What do my first days at ALTEN look like?
The first few days are for settling in to your new workplace. You will get the most important information for a quick and easy orientation as well as a starter kit with key things you need for the work. Under the supervision of you business manager or supervisor, you will learn about ALTEN and your workplace and get to know the new environment, new colleagues, new processes and procedures in peace.
Application & Jobs
How do I apply at ALTEN?
Please use our online application form, which you will find in every job offer by clicking on the “Apply” button. Or submit your speculative application. It only takes about 5 minutes to complete our online application form. The job offer on our Job Board will list the contact person. Send your application to them. Please understand that we cannot accept applications by post or via our contact form.
How can I tell if a job I'm interested has already been taken?
All job listings on our website are vacancies. As soon as we make a decision about hiring someone, we take down the listing from the website and application is no longer possible. If you find a job from us in another job market (e.g. on XING, LinkedIn or StepStone) or in social networks (e.g. Facebook) and want to know if it is still available, enter the reference number or the job title for that position into our Job Board. If you find the offer there, it is still vacant. If the search does not return a result, the job has already been taken.
How do I know the location for the job offer?
The job listing states the location. If several locations are specified, we are looking for new employees for each of the listed locations. In such cases, please indicate your preferred place of work in your cover letter.
Do I have to apply at all locations if I am mobile nationwide?
No, you only need to apply to one job at one location. Just tell us about your mobility and willingness to travel in the “Cover Letter/Comments” field of the online application form. They are automatically added to our central system, so that your application can be viewed throughout Germany by the recruiting team.
Can I apply for several positions at the same time?
Multiple applications are generally possible, but you do not have to apply separately for each job. When applying for a job, only enter the reference numbers of all other vacancies that are of interest to you, as well as the exact job title in the field “Cover Letter/Comments” of the online application form. We will take that into account.
How do I know if my application has been successfully received?
If you apply via our online application form, you will be redirected to a new page confirming the successful submission of your application. At the same time, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt to the email address you provided. If you do not receive a confirmation, your application was either unsuccessful or the confirmation email was blocked as spam due to your security settings. Please check your spam folder first. If you cannot find an email there, please contact our central recruiting contact person.
I want to apply, but cannot apply immediately. Can I save my job search?
Yes. On our Job Board you have the option to save every job to your watch list. Simply click on the star icon “Save Job”. If a position is saved in the watch list, you will recognise this by the yellow star. All saved jobs are stored in the watch list for 90 days, depending on the device. However, if you delete the cookies on your device, this deletes the watch list. You also have the option of deselecting the marked positions at any time. If a job is no longer available, you will be notified.
Is my application confidential?
The protection of your personal data is our highest priority. The secure transmission of your data and compliance with data protection regulations is of course ensured. This means that your data are only accessible to authorized persons, are treated with the strictest confidentiality and are processed only for the purpose of staffing. More about privacy can be found in our privacy note.
Online Application Form
How does online application work?
With the online application form, you can apply directly for your dream job via our website. It only takes you 5 minutes to complete the form and upload your prepared documents. You will find the form in the relevant job offer in our Job Board by clicking the “Apply” button. For a successful application:
- Please read all the “application tips”. You will find these above the form.
- Then complete all mandatory fields marked with *.
- Upload at least one file (preferably a PDF, max. 4 MB) with your resume, cover letter and your references. You can delete and append uploaded documents at any time.
- Insert your cover letter in the “Cover Letter/Comments” field, if it is not already part of your application. If you have already uploaded your cover letter as a document, please use that field to make additional comments (e.g. desired location, your mobility, jobs on our website for which you are also interested, other requests such as part-time work or further information such as dual citizenship)
- Now agree to the Privacy Policy.
- Click on the button “Verify information and send”.
- A window opens in which you can verify your information and correct anything if necessary by pressing the button “Edit information”.
- If everything is correct, click “Submit application”. Now your application will be visible to us and taken into account in the selection process for the position.
- Once your application has been submitted successfully, you will be redirected to a new page, “Thank you for your application”. You will also receive a confirmation message via the email address that you provided.
Can I pause my application and continue later?
Your details are automatically saved as you type. This means that you can complete your application later and send it to us. Your entries will be stored for a period of 90 days depending on the device – and provided you do not delete the cookies on your device. This means that you can complete the application form as far as you want, close the form and then continue later from where you left off. Your data is then stored in the form. The only exception is the data upload. Attachments are not saved, so please attach them just before submitting your application. If you do not want your entries to save in the online application form, delete the cookies from your device.
The online application is not available. What can I do?
If the online application is temporarily unavailable due to a technical problem, please accept our apologies. We will be automatically informed about the problem and will try to fix it quickly. Please try again later. If the error still occurs, please contact our recruiting contact and describe as accurately as possible the problems and error messages. Information about your computer configuration (operating system and browser) is also helpful.
Why am I unable to upload my attachments?
Depending on your internet connection, an upload may take several minutes. If you have waited this long and it still does not work, please check whether or not the document is too large (maximum 4 MB per file). It is possible that your attachment is not in the correct file format: pdf, doc, docx, jpeg or png. If your documents exceed the total size or are the incorrect format, please adjust them accordingly. If the error still occurs, please contact our recruiting contact and describe as accurately as possible the problems and error messages. Information about your computer configuration (operating system and browser) is also helpful.
I cannot submit my online application. What now?
Please check whether you have filled in all required fields marked * in the application form correctly and uploaded at least one attachment. If you still cannot submit your application, please contact our central recruiting contact and describe as accurately as possible problems and error messages. Information about your computer configuration (operating system and browser) is also helpful.
Application Documents
Which application documents should I submit?
In order to assess your application, we need your contact details as well as your CV and current certificates, at a minimum. To be on the safe side, complete the online application form and upload your documents as an attachment (ideally summarized in a PDF).
What in particular are you looking for when you read through an application?
It is important for us to be able to read your cover letter and CV and understand why you are the right candidate for the job. Make your skills and experience clear and concise. The presentation of your professional experience or internships should clearly show which tasks and areas of responsibility you have assumed in the respective context. Make sure that your cover letter is not too detailed. In addition, we look forward to relevant references and testimonials.
Application Process
When can I expect a response to my application?
Once the recruitment team and relevant department receive your application, they will review it promptly and decide whether or not you qualify for an interview. Since we receive a lot of applications and these require time to process, we ask for your patience. As a rule, you can expect specific feedback on your application within 1 to 2 weeks. However, we try to keep the waiting time as short as possible. If you have not heard from us after that, feel free to contact us!
How does the recruitment process work?
We use the application process to get to know you as well as possible and, of course, provide you with the fullest possible picture of our company. That’s why we have a multistage selection procedure involving multiple people. You have three interviews, each with different business managers or those responsible for the department. The goal is to assess your personality and abilities in a sound and objective way. Depending on local availability, the first interview can take place by telephone or in person. Our recruitment team sends the invitation.
Are travel expenses reimbursed during the application process?
Yes. As a rule, we reimburse your travel expenses at the latest six weeks after you have submitted the travel expense form with the respective documents in the original. ALTEN has committed itself to sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Therefore, we encourage travel by public transport and rely on a full reimbursement of travel expenses for travel by Österreichische Bundesbahn (2nd class) or public transport. If you arrive by car, we offer you 12 cents per kilometre as compensation. If travel by plane is the only feasible option due to distance or you need an overnight stay, please inform your recruitment contact. We book a flight directly in consultation with you. you.
How do I submit travel expenses incurred during the application process?
Please request the travel expense form from the recruiting contact person who has arranged the job interview with you. Prerequisite for the reimbursement is that the form is completed and the correct documents are attached. Be sure not to attach any copies, only original receipts (e.g. validated tickets) and sign the form. Please send the form and the paper receipts by post to the responsible recruiting contact.
You have booked your ticket online or digitally and do not have a paper ticket? Then please send us the booking confirmation including proof of the redeemed ticket. Print out any documents received by email and attach them as a paper document.
Projects
What does day-to-day work on a project at ALTEN look like?
Depending on your qualifications and professional interests, you will work in a suitable project, either in a project team at the customer’s site or in one of our branches. The business manager responsible for you will accompany you from the start of the project and during the familiarisation phase to help you integrate into the existing team.
Can I also take part in projects internationally or work abroad?
As a rule, our employees work on projects in Austria. In some cases we also look for employees to start a project abroad immediately. More information can be found in our jobs. If you would like to start directly with another ALTEN Group company abroad, please apply to the respective company. Further information can be found on the website of our parent company ALTEN Group.
What happens when my project ends?
Most of our engineers get involved in a project at the beginning of the development cycle. The development period takes 12 to 24 months, on average. Before the current project ends your direct supervisor will discuss the potential and the orientation of the following project with you. The project search prioritises your preferred region and industry, your field of application as well as your competences. The new project often begins immediately after the last project due to our business managers’ knowledge concerning relevant customer projects. In this way and because of your open-end contract, you can gain extensive project experience. If there is a period of idle between two projects, we continue to pay an engineer’s fixed salary. Alternatively, if required, we can offer further training opportunities in the meantime. A holiday is only an option if it makes sense in accordance with a previous joint planning – for example, if the employee would like to take vacation days anyway.
Students
Does ALTEN also offer trainee programmes?
Currently we do not offer any trainee programmes. If we are looking for help in this direction, we will make it clear. For this reason, apply only for the listed jobs and not on your own initiative.
Can I join ALTEN as a graduate right after finishing school?
Yes. With a university degree, we offer you direct entry into a professional career. You can send us your speculative application or apply directly to our current jobs. If professional experience is required, this will be explicitly noted in the job offer. As a European graduate you also have the opportunity to participate in the international voluntary programme V.I.E (french: Volontariat Internationl en Entreprise). As a rule, they are employed by ALTEN for at least twelve months and take on the full-fledged tasks of a first-time employee, usually in the context of projects. We have put together additional information on the page voluntary program V.I.E.