The interview process started with an initial call with Talent Acquisition, which lasted around an hour. The discussion covered behavioural, cultural, and some technical questions. The second round was more technical and went deeper into my previous experience. However, I found the role expectations unclear. The job description was quite broad and included everything from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Python, AI, and machine learning, which did not feel very aligned for a Data Engineer position. During the technical interview, I was asked several data science focused questions, including statistics and probability, even though I had applied for a Data Engineer role. I answered the questions and also provided relevant examples from my experience. The feedback I received was that my background was more data engineering focused and that they were looking for stronger data science experience. This was confusing, as the role was advertised as a Data Engineer position, and I had already answered the data science questions during the interview. Overall, I felt the process could have been better aligned with the advertised role. The interviewer also did not seem fully prepared or clear on whether the position was primarily data engineering or data science. The salary range was also not market competitive.

I recently went through a 5-round interview process with HelloFresh, only to be told they found another candidate who was a better industry fit. This was particularly frustrating as I know two other candidates who received the exact same feedback after multiple rounds of interviews with them. To make things worse, two days after informing me, they reposted the same job description on LinkedIn. It feels like a significant waste of time, and I would advise other candidates to consider this before engaging with their interview process.