I never went beyond the screening phase on a short list — all still via the outsourced talent hiring team. Note that they were all extremely nice, polite, friendly, communicative, responsive, and so forth — no problems there whatsoever. After a few interviews (using many different media — LinkedIn chat, email, video calls), the inevitable question popped up: how much did I want to earn.
And here is where all hell broke loose.
You see, their client had a fixed value in mind. From what I could squeeze out of the interviewers, it was slightly above minimum wages — for a senior job, asking for 10+ years of experience (I have twice that and more). I was even considering accepting it, in exchange for doing remote work full-time — a chunk of the salary must unfortunately cover all the costs associated with a car, as well as time spent commuting instead of doing productive things.
They replied that the client said that two things were non-negotiable:
- Salary
- On site (not even hybrid)
As expected, three months later they were reopening the position again, but this time my application wasn't even considered (the recruiters knew who I was...)
Again: I have absolutely nothing against the talent recruiting company and their fantastic team of people. They're very good professionals AND they're also personally very nice, too. Sadly, though, there is so much they can do, and their client dictates the rules — not them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How much do you wish to earn?
Essentially, that was the only thing that was in their mind, beyond the usual pleasantries. Note that I was not made aware of who their customer was, which means that the interview was a cold start — no preparation possible. You just had the job description and nothing else.
I applied through university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Sibs FPS (Alfragide) in Aug 2022
Interview
Entrevista pouco técnica para quem acabou de sair da faculdade, gostam de saber das softskills e de como trabalhamos em equipa e sob pressão. Bastante simpáticos e deixam as pessoas á vontade
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Quais as tecnologias com que gostavas de trabalhar
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Sibs FPS (Lisbon, Lisbon District) in Jul 2024
Interview
The interview process was comprehensive and took longer than expected, but it was well-structured and transparent. I appreciated the professionalism and respectful communication from the team, as well as the opportunity for in-depth, meaningful conversations throughout.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The main focus of their question was on my experience with product strategy and development. They were particularly interested in real-life use cases, asking how I approached strategic planning, prioritized features, and drove product development to meet business objectives.