Let’s start with the fact that I initially applied for a middle KAM position. After the first interview, I was offered to interview for a senior role. The entire interview process was incredibly long—6 weeks. I had an interview with HR, a country regional manager, and the head of commercial for the region (which was a whole "art form" in itself—a 1.5-hour brainstorming session that completely drained me).
Next came the business cases, not just one, but three, each requiring a lot of analysis. At this point, it felt like I was being interviewed for a business analyst role rather than a key account manager position. The test assignment required an immense amount of time and effort, especially considering I was still working at another company. After completing the assignment, I had to present it. Initially, the presentation was supposed to be in the local language, which made sense given that all clients are from the local market. However, at the last minute, I was informed that it needed to be in English.
After 6 weeks of interviews and preparation, I received a rejection, with the explanation that I wasn’t suitable for the senior manager role. This was quite frustrating considering I hadn’t even applied for that level of position in the first place. Additionally, I received no proper feedback on what went wrong. The job requirements remained vague and unclear, and the salary conditions were never transparently discussed.
Overall, this was the most negative experience I’ve ever had with a company. Six weeks of my time and energy were completely wasted. It felt like a total lack of respect for the candidate, as if the issue was related to hard skills, it would have been obvious earlier in the process, and they could have communicated that sooner. If the problem lay elsewhere, they could have at least provided meaningful feedback.
