I spent the day doing "first step" interviews with four companies. I had N26 scheduled down as the last one of the day. I actually like the first stage of the interview process. They are generally insightful, low pressure, and a good chance for you to learn more about the company, the team and the role.
On this day, by the time I had gotten to the N26 interview, I was very familiar with the process of these interviews. Which is why this interview shocked me so much. The first words that came out of the interviewer's mouth were, "What's your situation?". The brazen attitude with which this was delivered was astounding.
After navigating past that strange "interview opener". I was then asked a series of very short, abrupt, rapid-fire questions, e.g. "What are you doing at company X?" or "Why do you want to work here?". And despite the vagueness (and inexperienced nature) of the questioning, the interviewer seemed to almost roll their eyes at my responses. They would interrupt me with poorly timed, harshly spoken follow-ups, e.g. "What does X even mean?".
In hindsight, I should have ended the interview early. I've assumed the interviewer either had a bad day, English wasn't their most skilled language, or they deliberately didn't want me in the pipeline for unknown reasons.
Either way, N26 was a hard pass for me. In contrast to other "first step" interviews, it was a shocking and sad contrast.
