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I'm looking for advice on the timeline for a German university professorship hiring process, as the waiting is becoming quite exhausting.

Position: W2 Professorship at a German university

Timeline so far:

January-February 2025: Job posting published

May 2025: Final interview/presentation

July 2025: I sent a inquiry about the status

Response I received:

The hiring committee has made their decision and submitted it to the Rektorat for final approval.

My questions: Based on others' experiences with German W2 positions, how much longer might I realistically expect to wait? I am now 8+ months from the initial posting. Is receiving a response to my status inquiry generally a positive sign? Or do German universities typically respond this way to all candidates regardless of their standing?

I understand German academic hiring is notoriously slow, but the uncertainty is quite stressful. Any insights from those who've been through similar processes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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    Can you clarify: were you interviewed and did you receive an offer?
    – testaccount
    Commented 2 days ago
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    As a tip for the next time: If you ask for a status update, do it via phone. Everything in writing could be used in a lawsuit against the university, so you will get a formal answer. Many heads of hiring committees will however provide you more information between the lines if you call. You may have even be offered that but may not have realized - if a search committee head told you at the end of the interview "We hope to have the successful candidate hired by Fall. If you have questions or an offer from elsewhere in the meantime, you can always call me.", which signals openness to doing so.
    – DCTLib
    Commented 2 days ago
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    @testaccount The OP was interviewed (because he/she wouldn't know the dates of interviews otherwise) and did not receive an offer (yet) because an offer can only be made after all necessary councils and the "Rektorat" have approved the decision of the committee. The OP did not receive any indication if their name will be part of the ordered shortlist that is the outcome of the commitee's selection process or not.
    – DCTLib
    Commented 2 days ago

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Remember that W positions are public service positions with lifetime tenure. Accordingly, the German society aims to undergo a thorough process to intentionally select not just the right candidate, but also to select you under the right administrative procedure, where all concerned parties are heard.

That being said, the average process takes about a year on average (anecdotal experience). If the committee has already forwarded their decision within 2 months, they are moving at a rather fast pace. The rector will now review it and find time for the right candidate to begin the negotations. The right candidate will be invited at this stage, and others will not be informed (as far as I know).

Unfortunately, you will only hear about concrete results once the right candidate has already joined the workforce. This is not helpful for all those who were not selected, but that is how it is.

I would advise you to wait 2-3 months, and if you do not receive a call for negotiations, then most likely you have not been selected.

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    It may have to go through further committees after the Rektor. In some places, the Personalrat must approve all hiring decisions, and if they meet six times a year and have a full agenda, this might take months. In a well-organised place, this might happen in parallel to the pending Rektor approval. Not all places are well-organised.
    – gerrit
    Commented 2 days ago
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    "Unfortunately, you will only hear about concrete results once the right candidate has already joined the workforce. This is not helpful for all those who were not selected, but that is how it is." That seems unlikely, since in Germany part of the procedure is that the other applicants must be given the opportunity to object to the decision.
    – TimRias
    Commented 2 days ago
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    They have one month after the appointment start to object. The objection can only be administrative procedural. That is why the Uni takes so long to avoid these 'objections' and do things properly.
    – aimedaca
    Commented 2 days ago
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    Another thing to take into account: depending on who else needs to be involved and their vacation plans, things may slow down considerably in the summer months.
    – Maarten Buis
    Commented 2 days ago
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    One key sentence here is the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph: the hiring committee will (have) set up a shortlist of usually 3 people, then start negotiating with #1, who in turn might be negotiating counteroffers at their current employer, so this will take a while. Only if negotiations with #1 have fallen through will they contact #2. And only after that #3. And usually nobody is informed about their "Listenplatz" or whether they are on the "Liste" at all. It's all IMO incredibly dysfunctional and non-professional.
    – Stephan Kolassa
    Commented 2 days ago
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In my opinion, even for a position like this, eight months is relatively long. It is true that formal measures must be taken before a response can be given, such as involving the staff council, but this takes a few weeks at most. Would it be an option for you to inquire about the current status?

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    Actually, for academic hiring for German professorships, 8 months is normal. "A few weeks" is unrealistic in the German system, which often involves (a) getting external reviews from candidates, where deadlines <4 weeks are normally not acceptable, (b) getting approval from multiple committees, some of which may have as few as 6 meetings a year (and there is a fixed order of committee approvals), (c) a lot of paperwork having to be done, (d) the Rektorat having to approve, and in some cases even (e) the local ministry of education having to approve the candidates, which sometimes takes months.
    – DCTLib
    Commented 2 days ago

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