I recently went through the interview process at Deblock for the Founder Associate role, and while I was pleased to advance past the case study stage, my experience overall was quite negative. The initial communication was lacking, with no introductory call to discuss the role or company direction — just an email requesting a presentation. I completed the presentation. I was then invited to a second interview. Unfortunately, the second interview was a significant letdown. Despite my efforts and preparation, the interview felt dismissive and unprofessional. My current role and experience were questioned in a defensive and undermining manner, which was surprising and disappointing. The interview process should be a two-way street, allowing both parties to assess mutual fit. In this instance, it felt more like an interrogation than a professional dialogue. This experience has left me with serious doubts about the company’s culture and leadership approach.

I was disappointed but not surprised by the communication from this company throughout the recruitment process. No introductory phone call to learn more about the role, business direction etc. Instead, I received an email asking to complete a presentation. From the start, I felt hesitant to move forward, as this did not reflect the process and practices of a professional company with a positive culture. With years of experience in recruitment — from sourcing to hiring and onboarding — I found their communication to be unacceptable and unprofessional. However, I decided to proceed. I dedicated time to creating a presentation from scratch, ensuring it aligned with the company’s branding, including their signature fonts, colours, and images. I even researched their products, despite most of the content being in French. To my surprise, less than two hours after submitting the presentation, I received a generic email that was very impersonal and lacked any acknowledgement of the effort I put into the presentation. When I asked for feedback, the response was negative, dismissive, and rude with aggressive undertones. Overall, the company’s culture seems to lack basic people skills and professionalism. I regret not listening to my intuition when I received that initial email requesting the task, as it was a waste of time and effort. This experience left me with a very negative impression of the company and their recruitment process and communication confirmed this.