Neste Interview Questions
& Process

I met with the head of risk and some traders. They asked me a bunch of questions about my past experience and what I know about physical and derivative trading. Then, I had to prepare and present a case study on how to measure the risk of a trading book.

My first interview was with the hiring manager and it was pretty good. A few days later, I got invited to the next stage. The next interview was with the hiring manager and their boss, and it included a case study. I got really positive feedback on that call and they said they'd let me know about next steps soon. About a week later, I got a call from the recruiter/HR who confirmed the positive feedback and invited me for an in-person interview in Amsterdam. But then things got weird. The HR/recruiter promised to email me with dates and details to plan my trip, but never sent anything. Since I only got a phone call, I called them back a week later, but no one answered. A few days after that, I emailed the hiring manager to ask what was going on since I hadn't received any details and felt ignored. A few more weeks went by, and then I got an automated rejection email with no explanation, just saying the job was filled. I saw on LinkedIn today that the job was posted again two days ago. I have no idea what kind of hiring process mess this is, but it left me feeling really disappointed because I was genuinely excited about this job.

This interview process took about 3 months. It started with some personality and logic tests. Then there were 4 interview rounds with the hiring manager, HR, and a senior management person. HR was kinda slow to respond, I usually had to check in after each interview. I got selected, but then after waiting for 6 weeks, they told me that because of a high-level company decision, they're freezing all hiring indefinitely. So, no offer in the end.

This was a terrible waste of time, they treated me like a lab rat with all these tests. This arrogant company uses racist, sexist, classist, ableist capability (intelligence) and personality tests and forces you to meet with a psychologist after. I was led on until the very end of an unnecessary process. It was the longest interview process I have had the misfortune to participate in. I will echo someone else for a role in CA a couple of months ago: Shame on you, Neste US. The first interview was RecRight (pre-recorded video interview), which was kind of creepy because a phone screen would have sufficed and been faster. You can view the questions in advance. I needed a few hours to prepare a script and then think about it over night. I did all of mine in one take but I have read some others that have taken multiple takes. The second interview was about the role with an HR specialist and Hiring manager by video using Google Meet. They said they might try to find another role if this one didn't work out since they're hiring a lot in the US right now. I asked about the "assessment" I saw in other reviews and they said it was nothing major and that there were no wrong answers... funny because you wouldn't be doing this if that were true. The third "Interview" was an email negotiation with an HR manager about salary. They detailed the benefits, which are impressive. They would not give a budget or any numbers first and the expectation is that you email them your requirements to see if you "match" with theirs. It's stressful because you don't know what they're expecting so you do some research and then land on a number you can justify. It appears like this is a prerequisite step to getting to the next interview. The fourth was with senior members of the team in Europe. This was the most pleasant interview. It was more of a conversation and the seniors are admirable. The fifth "interview" was taking this assessment: Cubiks Logik General Advanced and the PAPI 3 I. I asked about this in the first interview and was totally misled. They said it would just be a personality test, but they added on this logic test. Had I known this from the second interview, I would have withdrawn because I do not want to work for an employer that uses these instruments that have been found to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, classist, ableist. This is a known fact, but they do it anyway. It is known that personality "tests" are like horoscopes and lack context, so having blind faith in them about cultural fit can be dangerous and exclusionary for no legitimate reason. The logic test has extraordinary time pressure, so practicing is key... if you care. If you're not good at timed tests and you're out of school for more than 10 years, it will be an adjustment. The entire thing was absolutely horrible and left me distraught. I was debating whether to take it or withdraw because of their lack of confidence in their HR's ability to hire staff. I should have withdrawn. There are better ways to assess math and reading comprehension if it's that serious... rather than giving folks a couple of seconds to answer questions in the interview stage. It could also be job related questions instead of this random nonsense. The sixth thing was a full-on behavioral interview with a psychologist (third party), and then they read off your results on the personality test, weaknesses, and strengths. They go over the logic test results too. I really didn't see how to prepare for this since they weren't a decision maker, and it's adding complication to the process that is already too drawn out. All stakeholders have bought into this workplace horoscope /personality test nonsense so much so that the hiring manager meets with the psychologist to discuss the applicant. The final interview was with the HR Manager and Hiring Manager. There aren't a lot of new questions that come up other than the personality tests and random questions about hobbies and small talk. All of these rounds misled me that I would have been the chosen candidate. They believe they were transparent, but that wasn't the case. I received a generic regret letter and they refused to offer feedback after all of that. Do not apply here if you don't want to go through all these hoops and walk away with absolutely nothing. If you like standardized tests, then go for it. It's a process that is too long. The decision should have come after interview 3 max. It shows that they are indecisive and keen to waste a lot of people's time (including their own). They should be more transparent and offer useful feedback after such a long process. It took 40 days in my case from beginning to end. They should be ashamed of this process, so please proceed with caution.