Curiosities
Lighthouse keeper search on Wangerooge: Around 1,100 applications
A look at the old lighthouse in Wangerooge: Many people want to work here. photo
© Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/dpa
Wangerooge is spoiled for choice: hundreds of applications were received for the job of a new lighthouse keeper. The small island administration is now faced with a lot of work and is asking for calm.
A flood of applications for the job of a new lighthouse keeper Wangerooge provides the small North Sea island with a lot of work when it comes to filling vacancies. Around 1,100 applications were received for the vacant position in the town hall. The municipal administration has never experienced such a large application process in its history, it said in a statement.
“We will start the interviews from April 22nd. Here, a good three employees will be tied up for an entire week and will not be available for other topics. We are planning around 45 interviews per week,” said Rieka Beewen, the mayor’s general representative Wangerooge, in a statement.
A second round of the selection process should be completed by Ascension Day, if possible. “Hopefully after the holidays we can announce that we have found a lighthouse keeper,” Beewen continued.
There are just a dozen administrative staff working in the town hall of the holiday island, which has around 1,200 residents – only one employee is involved in human resources work. “I have to express my special thanks to our HR manager,” said Beewen. “What has been achieved here in the last few weeks is really crazy.”
Lighthouse is used for tourism
The 39 meter high, listed Old Lighthouse is one of the landmarks of the North Sea island. At the beginning of February, the municipality advertised the unusual position in a job advertisement. However, the island is not looking for a lighthouse keeper in the traditional sense – there haven’t been any on the North and Baltic Seas since the late 1990s.
The lighthouse, which has not been in operation since 1969, is used by the island for tourism, for example as a viewing area. According to the job description, the tasks include ticket sales, admission control and the sale of souvenir items.
The job advertisement and reports about it were widely distributed on the Internet, and numerous media also reported on it. The town hall says they are pleased about the great interest. However, the community now asks that you refrain from further press inquiries about the search for the new lighthouse keeper until mid-May. +”We are really working at the limit here, the requests make it difficult to carry out the correct process at this point,” said Beewen.