I went through a 5-step interview process that spanned several weeks: HR screening, technical interview with the tech lead and PM, a take-home assignment (retail management API, Angular frontend page, and a Jira-style ticket — with a full week's delay just to get Figma access), a review session with the CTO and PM, and finally a final interview with the co-founder — which was originally cancelled the same day it was scheduled, then rescheduled.
After the final step, I was promised feedback by Friday. Friday came with an email saying the process was 'stalled.' Mid-week the following week — nothing. I followed up Thursday. Monday I got an email about illness and delays. After another follow-up asking for a final answer so I could plan accordingly, I received a call saying they had continued interviewing other candidates and rejected everyone.
When I pushed for clarity on next steps, I was told the salary range for the position was €30–35k. I had clearly stated in the very first HR interview that my current compensation is €40k.
The frustration isn't just about rejection — it's about basic respect for candidates' time. If the budget doesn't match a candidate's stated expectations, that should be addressed in step one, not after a month-long process. Disorganized communication, repeated delays, and a lack of transparency made this a genuinely poor experience.
I applied online. I interviewed at FromScratch Studio (Thessaloníki, Western Macedonia)
Interview
I applied through LinkedIn and completed two out of three interview stages for a junior position.
The first stage was an online interview where we discussed my resume, life stage, university, and other general topics. All the questions were pretty to the point and focused on my resume. The communication during this stage was professional and occasionally friendly, and the interview lasted about 35 minutes on Google Meet.
The second stage was a technical interview, conducted either online or in person at their office, which they said would last 2–3 hours. As a reward for participating, they mentioned giving a book as a gift. The office was okay, and finding parking in the area was easy.
The technical interview included three tasks:
A coding problem in TypeScript with three parts, was completed on the Stackblitz platform. The problem itself wasn’t very hard, but I struggled due to my inexperience and anxiety.
Reviewing and reporting a bug from the first task.
Analyzing over 50 pages of an EU Horizon project. The first question for this task was straightforward, but the second asked me to define the company’s tasks, which felt abstract and challenging for an entry-level/junior project manager. This task was never mentioned before the interview, so it came as a surprise.
While the communication in the online interview was clear, the instructions for the bug report and Horizon analysis during the technical interview were very unclear and abstract. When I asked for clarification, I was told to "do what you think you should," which I found confusing and unhelpful.
Overall impression:
Neutral. The process had a mix of professional and semi-professional elements. The unexpected nature of the Horizon task and the unclear instructions made the technical interview more difficult than anticipated for a junior position.
Two interviews that were like a chat, in a informal and friendly environment, the first one online and the second one in office. They informed me in detail about their activities, business model, what to expect in first months and during onboarding.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What happened with my last employer, technical questions on previous projects.
