The recruitment process of the local public administration that has traditionally been governed by the legal-bureaucratic model is increasingly influenced by external pressures, such as calls for the democratization of the public administration. The model of the representative bureaucracy internalizes this need for democratization, as opposed to the traditional model, the legal-bureaucratic model. Based on these two theoretical ideal models of public administration, this small-N study compares the ideas of recruiters regarding the role of representation of people with migrant background of the local bureaucracy of two German cities. Since recruiters are strongly involved in shaping the recruitment process, we can draw inferences from their ideas to the role of representation within the recruitment process. Data is collected through interviews in which recruiters are expected to give valuable insights into the machinery of recruitment of the local public administration in Germany in real life. The study finds that ideas on recruitment are not solely based on the legal-bureaucratic model; representation can play a role because personal background matters in recruitment. Although recruiters see real effects derived from diversity within staff, the role of representation is diminished within recruitment to the German local public administration because recruiters do not perceive people with migrant background as a group which experiences under-representation.