Dassault Systèmes Project Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I found the job on LinkedIn. I reached out to someone there, and after a few emails, I was scheduled for an in-person interview. I didn't get any feedback after being declined.

Got referred by a friend to the recruiter. Recruiter called, we discussed a few roles, then settled on Sr. Project Manager. Recruiter was supposed to set up a meeting with the hiring manager, but the hiring manager reached out directly to meet on a day off. We had a good chat about our jobs and what we're looking for. He seemed keen and said they'd be in touch because they wanted to move fast. A couple weeks later, the recruiter called again to set up a 1:1 with a current Sr. PM at the office. The recruiter called on the day of the meeting to reschedule from 4pm to 1pm, which was a bit of a pain, but I made it. The chat with the Sr. PM was okay, though he felt more like an interrogator than an interviewer, making it a bit tough. I sent a thank you note via the recruiter and asked about next steps, but heard nothing. Almost a month passed, and when I followed up with the recruiter, he apologized and said they weren't moving forward with me. Maybe it was because I came in through a referral and not the ATS, but some serious ball-dropping there.

The process kicked off with a recruiter call, then there were three more rounds. Two of these were with the department heads. The last interview involved presenting a case study, which I got the day before. The case was about project management, specifically team management. The 'team' in the role-play were actually people assessing me. My role was the project manager, and even though I thought I was prepared, it didn't go well. I need to mention that the team, budget, and deadline were fixed and couldn't be changed. It was weird to be held accountable without any real power. That last interview was really rough and a big letdown. What I really didn't like were two things: the case was set up with crazy difficult conditions (like the worst possible scenario for a PM - bad team, budget, deadline). I doubted if that's how Quintiq usually works. It felt like they were trying to get the worst out of candidates, not the best. The case and role-play were just not right. Also, the debrief after the role-play was poorly handled. The two department heads gave me feedback on my performance, pointing out my perceived flaws. They mentioned there was a solution to the case but didn't share it. They also didn't ask for my feedback on the process. Basically, the closing meeting was badly run. This final interview felt like they were already a closed group, and if I didn't say the 'right' things to fit in, I was out, very unprofessionally. I was super disappointed, not because I didn't get the job (after the role play, it was clear there was no fit), but because of how they ran the process. There are better ways to evaluate candidates that don't take so much time and effort to figure out if there's a match. And there's no need to be nasty during the process. It was a really disappointing recruitment.