The recruiter reached out, they were friendly and straight to the point. I had strange vibes when it came to the HR individual interview. I was also surprised that I was interviewed twice by the HR team. Aren't there more team members to meet? Isn't that re-done-done? The overall interviewing process seemed to be more fit for an executive-level role, and not an individual contributor role. I was told in the final round that I would be flown to their HQ in Berlin to meet the executives. In addition to that, they only look for German-speaking individuals with no long-term vision that their product could go beyond the borders and become an international product.

I was contacted three times by a recruiter at GOhiring about a Product Designer role. After I finally replied with interest, he asked whether I was a “native German speaker,” even though my LinkedIn clearly states that I speak several languages fluently, including German. I have German family and have been bilingual all my life, even though I was not born in the country. The recruiter had already viewed my public portfolio, which is linked directly on my profile, yet still asked whether it was up to date. All of this happened only after I confirmed interest, which suggests that my profile was not reviewed properly before outreach. Requiring a “native” speaker for a design role is unnecessary and generally not compliant within EU hiring standards, and the overall process felt disorganised. For a small company trying to attract senior talent, this was a disappointing experience and raised several avoidable red flags.