I recently interviewed for a Senior Software Engineer position at Media Markt Germany, and my experience was far from positive. The entire process took over a month, with multiple lengthy interview stages.
The second interview required completing an extensive take-home project, where they asked for two fully functional microservices in less than a week. Even for someone experienced, this would take at least 10-20 hours, which is extremely demanding for candidates who already have full-time jobs and can only work on it in their limited free time.
During the third interview, I had to present my solution to a panel of five interviewers. They had no real objections to my work, but one interviewer questioned my approach to structuring controllers. Specifically, he asked why I created a controller per use case rather than grouping everything into a single controller. I explained that I followed the Single Responsibility Principle (SRP), only to be met with a bizarre counterargument—that SRP means each file should contain only one function. I had to explain what SRP actually meant, which raised concerns about their technical knowledge and engineering culture.
Despite the lack of valid criticism on my solution, I was ultimately rejected with the vague reason that I was "not open to feedback." This experience left me with the impression that challenging their opinions, even with well-founded reasoning, is not welcome.
If there's one lesson I took from this, it’s that questioning someone who feels insecure about their position can cost you the opportunity. I wouldn’t recommend this interview process to anyone looking for a fair and reasonable hiring experience.