HUNGARY | Internship: At work | Cultural standards
According to Hofstede’s framework for assessing culture, Hungarian society can be considered as a masculine culture, where the roles of the genders differ strongly: it is expected that men will be goal- and result-oriented, will have authority and will be strong in competitions. In addition, Hungarian society tries to avoid uncertainty and values experts highly. Low power distance and workflow-oriented bureaucracy are typical of Hungary.
The business culture in Hungary can be described by the following three features:
- High importance of personal contacts, relationship-focused behavior in business life
- formal and hierarchical business interactions
- indirect verbal communication, very expressive in nonverbal behavior.
Importance of personal contacts
In Hungary "who you know" counts for a great deal.
The best way to find a job or an internship is through personal contacts; therefore, networking is of great importance in order to be successful in your job hunt. Use any contacts you (or your university) may have: friends, family, former professors, etc. You might consider a period of study in Hungary before starting to look for a job as this will help you to establish a personal network.
In Hungary, the relationship usually drives the business.
Establishing and building rapport and trust are major parts of doing business in Hungary. Be cooperative in order to gain friends, since becoming friends is what it takes to get something done. Only if you are able to make friends will you be able to do good business with Hungarians. Therefore, rapport-building preliminary small talk before getting down to business is quite common in Hungary.
Formalities
Hungarians tend to be in the middle of the formality range. This means they are a bit more formal than Danes or North Americans, but less so than the French or Germans.
Punctuality, schedules and deadlines have great importance. It is advisable to be on time for meetings - sometimes even five minutes early. To be late indicates that you do not consider your business partner important.
At the beginning – and also at the end – of a meeting shake hands with everybody. Address your counterparts by their professional or academic title plus family name. Although in the Hungarian language the family name precedes any given names, Hungarians usually change their names around to fit the international environment. They do not expect foreigners to do the same. It would be confusing. Keep in mind that the order of the Hungarian names is different and avoid using first names, especially at the beginning of your relationship.
Politeness is an everyday rule that opens (or closes) a lot of doors. Gallantry towards women is still very much appreciated and is a sign of a good upbringing.
Avoid touching people in the workplace, e.g. do not use friendly backslapping. Do not act over-enthusiastic; do not use too many "hollow" superlatives like great, wonderful, terrific. They are not popular in Hungary and sound insincere.
Most companies have a very hierarchical structure and all communication goes through vertical lines. Therefore the decision-making process takes more time.
Indirect verbal communication
Hungarian people are very expressive in their nonverbal communication. Therefore always pay attention to your counterpart's facial expression. This will indicate what he or she really thinks.
Always keep direct eye contact with your partner. That shows that you are paying attention. If you notice some confusion in their nonverbal behavior do not be afraid to rephrase your message because Hungarians will rarely openly admit that they didn't understand. In interactions with Hungarians you will often experience verbal indirectness and polite evasions.