Overall, the process felt quite disorganized. The initial call with the recruiter went well. She explained the company clearly, asked thoughtful follow-up questions, and the conversation felt collaborative and engaging from both sides. However, the interview with the hiring/engineering manager in Malmö was a very different experience. The discussion felt unstructured and somewhat inconsistent with what had been communicated beforehand. I was told the round would focus mainly on a deep dive into my past experience, but instead, the interviewer presented a problem and shifted heavily into system design and database design questions. I completely understand and expect technical evaluations during an interview process, but this type of assessment is usually better suited for a dedicated technical round where candidates can prepare accordingly. The mismatch between the communicated expectations and the actual interview format made the experience feel confusing and poorly coordinated.

The hiring manager interview was very short (under 30 minutes) and impacted by technical issues, which made it difficult to have any meaningful technical discussion. The conversation felt rushed, with mostly high-level questions and little time to provide thoughtful or in-depth answers. Additionally, I found it concerning that having a startup or being a co-founder seemed to be viewed as a disadvantage. Early questions focused on whether I would drop my startup and how I would allocate time to it, giving the impression that full availability to the company is prioritized over entrepreneurial thinking or innovation. Overall, the experience felt more focused on control over time rather than valuing diverse experiences or fostering new ideas.