I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Cerve (Sweden) (Gothenburg, Västra Götaland) in Mar 2025
Interview
The interview process was one of the most unprofessional I've experienced. A third-party recruiting service was used, which complicated the process from the start.
For the first interview, there was a no-show. After an hour, the recruiter responded, stating they "missed my timeslot" due to a scheduling conflict. The conversation felt rushed and unprepared, consisting of repetitive, generic information.
The second interview was also unprofessionally handled. The interviewer was late and seemed to be reading from a script, offering little clarity or genuine insight into the role.
My salary expectations were communicated, and based on the responsibilities, I believed they were fair. However, the offer I was given was significantly low for the scope of the work. This, along with the numerous red flags during the interview process, led me to decline the offer. It felt like they were looking to hire someone with less experience to pay a much lower salary for a high-responsibility position.One of the most unprofessional interview processes I've had so far.
You get a email saying you should pick a timeslot that suits your schedule.
1st interview: Recruiter doesn't even show up and after numerous emails and calls to this person she replies after over 1 hr saying she "missed my timeslot" and had a "clash at that time". Barely being ready for work, working from home and just repeating copy paste text about company.
2nd Interview: Other recruiter comes late and is basically repeating some text from a paper. Doesn't bring much clarification or transparency.
I told them my salary expectations and know I can sort out quite well routines and knowledge to a startup like this.
They expected me to accept a very low salary compared to the responsibility.
I wouldn't accept offer with that salary and the warning signs are many.
Didn't get offer, probably over qualified and too high salary demand. They want someone who is fresh out of school to pay less.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Cerve (Sweden)
Interview
CEO Dan stood out: Professional, focused, and respectful. His interviews were strictly job-relevant—technical and behavioral—without prying into personal life. His passion for the work was evident (a stark contrast to others).
Iona (Recruiter)—efficient, communicative, and transparent.
Exhausting interview process: Multiple unnecessary rounds that were time-consuming and repetitive.
Misleading "flexible hours": The policy claims you can choose hours around core times (10:30–16:30), but in practice, this translates into unpaid overtime and disrespect to personal time.
Unprofessional interview tone: Negative remarks about hobbies, dismissive attitudes toward work-life balance (including criticism of Swedish norms), and disregard for basic employee rights were major red flags.
Rejection reason: The absence of great enthusiasm to work unpaid overtime was explicitly cited as the reason for denial.
Outdated interview approach: Relied on clichéd, "boomer"-style questions. The interviewer repeatedly boasted about working at Dyson 15 years ago and faux-psychological tactics to assert dominance.
Mandatory staff training needed:
Swedish labor law compliance
Structured, job-focused interviews
Elimination of personal life scrutiny
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Do you consider yourself a workaholic? Do you have any hobbies?
The interviewer explicitly asked whether I would sacrifice regular Friday evening personal commitments for work.