I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Coster Diamonds (Amsterdam) in Apr 2023
Interview
- 1st step : first interview : very interesting and open conversation with the hiring manager and the team. Great conversation/ experience. - 2nd step : Assessment. Business case to complete. Market analysis (current state, competitor analysis, trends, customer segmentation) + build ecom strategy. No compensation. - 3rd step : present the work to the hiring manager and team. Also good experience and relevant conversation for the hiring process. - 4th step : I was invited to meet the CEO as I am not dutch and he was worried about it. Nice conversation but clearly understood that the company's board has limiting thoughts on non dutch candidate, a low trust level towards the ecom team and not a good understanding of the digital commerce stakes. -5th step : They called 3 of my former manager, direct report and colleague to check my references. I had very promising news after the interview and was told they were setting me for success internally and good news was about to come. 2 weeks after the interview I was told that they prioritised the dutch language and culture skills over the industry expertise. Here is my advice If you read this, if you're not dutch but started a hiring process with them it might be that it's not a problem at all for the hiring manager but it is clearly one for the board who favors dutch speaking over expertise, motivation and vision.