Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Coolblue as 100% positive with a difficulty rating score of 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Senior Software Engineer and rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Senior Software Engineer and roles were rated as the easiest.
The hiring process at Coolblue takes an average of 30 days when considering 1 user submitted interviews across all job titles. Candidates applying for Senior Software Engineer had the quickest hiring process (on average 30 days), whereas Senior Software Engineer roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 30 days).
The actual recruitment experience completely contradicts the positive image they portray.
I applied for a Team Lead position with over 12 years of professional experience. The initial video intake was explicitly scheduled for 30 minutes. Instead, the recruiter dragged it out to nearly an hour—completely ignoring the schedule.
During this time, the interview felt less like a professional assessment and more like the interviewer was using the session to practice their own testing and hiring skills. Despite the unexpected disruption to my day, I adapted, used a whiteboard, and put forward my best effort.
Following the interview, I sent a detailed, high-effort follow-up email to assist with the next steps, followed by a polite check-in a week later. I was met with absolute silence.
To completely ghost a senior candidate after taking double the allocated interview time is highly unprofessional. Any response—even a standard rejection—is acceptable, but total silence is disrespectful. The company motto promises everything "with a smile," but the reality of the candidate experience was incredibly disappointing and broke my trust in the brand. I ended up formally withdrawing my candidacy due to this treatment.
Advice to Management:
Hold your recruitment team accountable to the values you broadcast to the outside world. One recruiter’s unprofessional behavior and lack of basic communication can instantly destroy a brand reputation built by the rest of the company. Candidates invest serious time, energy, and preparation into your roles; the bare minimum they deserve is a timely response, not ghosting.
I applied online. I interviewed at Coolblue (Roterdão) in Feb 2022
Interview
The process had three rounds: a recruiter call, a soft skills interview, and a technical interview based on a take-home assignment. The early rounds were pleasant and well run. The technical round was weaker, the questions were fairly basic for the level of the role, and the tone came across as condescending. I was also given technical feedback during the rejection that I believe was factually incorrect, which made it hard to see the assessment as fair.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you design the AWS infrastructure for {the system in the take-home assignment}, and why did you choose those services?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Coolblue (A Haia) in May 2026
Interview
Got an initial screening call. Received a follow-up call, where they admitted that they went for a person who was able to offer a lower price (I let them make a proposal, and they named market average), and a person who tailored a better cover letter. That's an unusually frank feedback from a company, so I have to give them major kudos for that.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Do you have experience with data observability tools like Monte Carlo?
How extensive is your dbt knowledge?