For me personally, this was my worst candidate journey and theworst professional experience a of my entire career.
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Looking back, I already noticed certain red flags after the first interview. By the second interview, these impressions became even stronger. My job coach, who listened in on one of the conversations and advised me from an outside perspective, even suggested at the time that I should reconsider accepting the position. In hindsight, I can understand why he had that impression.
During the second interview, several aspects that I had previously understood as commitments seemed to be presented differently. By the time of the third interview on site, I was genuinely confused. The description of the role given by the Head of People and Culture appeared inconsistent with what had been discussed earlier in the process, including in conversations where the CEO had been present.
As a result, I personally had the impression that the role I had understood from the first interviews differed significantly from the situation I encountered after joining.
At times it also felt as if misunderstandings about the earlier conversations were attributed to me, rather than being discussed openly. From my perspective, contradictions were often dismissed instead of clarified, which left me with the feeling that the responsibility for the inconsistencies was placed on me.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Update / Additional note
As you can read below, the company subsequently filed a police report against me in connection with my review. From my perspective, this response says a great deal about how criticism and employee feedback were handled there.
The case was subsequently dismissed, as my statements constituted expressions of my personal opinion and were covered by the freedom of expression protected under Article 5(1) of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz), within the applicable legal limits. Instead of addressing the criticism and using it as an opportunity to improve their employer branding and candidate experience, the company chose to take legal action against me.
According to my understanding, initiators of the report are also responsible for what I experienced as the worst onboarding, in my opinion, I have ever had. I have had many experiences in professional environments and have been involved in organizing and coordinating a great deal myself, which makes this experience particularly difficult for me to understand.
I can only describe my experience as extremely impersonal, poorly structured and lacking in appreciation. In my opinion, many processes were handled in a way that made me feel unnecessarily uncomfortable and unwelcome.
This is, of course, my personal assessment based on my own experience, which is protected by Article 5(1) of the German Basic Law (Grundgesetz), as I am expressing my personal opinion and describing my own experience, which may of course have been different for others.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
In my opinion, what was missing most was basic human personality and empathy — and from my personal perspective, the entire People & Culture / HR function felt fundamentally misaligned with what such a role should actually represent.
I personally felt that a lack of experience and practical people skills was being compensated for with intranets, rigid frameworks, and formal processes, rather than genuine human interaction. In my opinion, these structures felt empty and disconnected from real needs.
From my perspective, almost every meeting required a PowerPoint presentation instead of simple, direct conversation. I felt that clear questions were rarely met with clear answers, which made interactions feel uncomfortable and impersonal. Personally, I have never felt so uneasy and, from my own perception, even subtly bullied in a professional environment.
I also felt that priorities were misplaced. In my opinion, symbolic gestures were favored over meaningful care for people. For example, from my perspective, resources were spent on prestigious external events or locations, while at the same time very small investments that could have eased everyday burdens for office staff did not seem to be considered. To me, this felt completely disconnected from the stated goals of People & Culture.
Again, this is entirely my personal opinion and experience, but overall I felt that the approach missed the core purpose of creating a supportive, human, and respectful workplace culture.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
ZERO
Vorgesetztenverhalten
In my opinion, what seemed to be missing most was basic human empathy. From my perspective, the People & Culture / HR function felt misaligned with what such a role should ideally represent.
I sometimes had the impression that interpersonal experience and practical people skills were replaced by intranet tools, rigid frameworks, and formal processes rather than genuine human interaction. To me, these structures often felt detached from the everyday realities of working with people.
Many meetings appeared to rely heavily on PowerPoint presentations instead of simple and direct conversation. Questions did not always seem to receive clear answers, which made interactions feel uncomfortable and impersonal. At times this created an atmosphere in which I personally felt uneasy and, from my perception, even subtly bullied.
Overall, this reflects only my personal experience and perception. For me, the approach often felt disconnected from the stated goal of creating a supportive, human, and respectful workplace culture.
Kommunikation
In my opinion, the company’s values — especially “open communication” — were emphasized very strongly, almost in a dogmatic way. However, from my personal experience, this value did not seem to be consistently practiced in everyday interactions.
In my opinion, asking questions or sharing ideas often felt discouraged rather than welcomed. Responses sometimes came across as dismissive, and I personally felt that initiatives or suggestions were more likely to be criticized than constructively discussed.
In some situations I was referred to internal tools such as HiBob or the company wiki instead of receiving further explanation, which I personally experienced as discouraging
Interessante Aufgaben
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