EVBox Culture FAQ

Pros

The challenge of learning about the new industry of charging stations is never boring. There is so much to learn and a lot of room to grow here. The culture is great, and everyone has a really positive mind-set. It's great to work with like-minded people who care about the environment. They also encourage us to take charge of decisions without relying on approval, so it feels great to have such responsibility and freedom to make an impact on the product.

Cons

It is a scale-up, and moving fast so there are always going to be growing pains with that. The work process is still being defined and it's also a brand new, very complex industry to learn and understand.

Advice to Management

I would love more encouragement to go to conferences for my industry (UX design). These are great for education and will bring better design to our product. At my former job it was part of the benefits to choose one conference per year to attend, anywhere we would like.

Pros

- Nice office - Knowledgeable co-workers

Cons

I have never experienced a hiring process as badly executed as I have with EVBox. After my initial application I progressed through to the final stage of the process, which was a call with one of the C levels, this is where things began to fall apart. The video link HR sent was no longer valid and I could not join the call in time, a new link was sent by the interviewer. I was then told that as I was late and that they use this technology all the time maybe ‘some people i.e., me’ must have difficulty understanding how technology like this works. As the call progressed it became apparent that the interviewer was reading my CV for the first time as we spoke. When it came to my nationality I was then asked ‘Are you some kind of British…’ As it happens I‘m Irish. I’m not particularly nationalistic but being asked something so bluntly and with no apparent understanding of the intricacies of the Irish relationship with Britain is just careless and deeply inconsiderate. Needless to say, I was not left with a positive impression. My worries were allayed somewhat by the very positive impression I got from my potential line manager and immediate co-worker and so I decided to continue in the process, eventually the role was offered to me. However, before I made my final decision, which would involve me relocating, I asked to see their HQ in Amsterdam. The HR rep I had been dealing with all along said that due to COVID they were no longer conducting meetings in their office. This is understandable but I explained that I would still like to at least meet my potential co-workers in person and to see if I could actually live in the city. I was asked if I could pay to fly myself, but I was reluctant to spend hundreds of euro on a last minute plane ticket for a job I was already unsure about. I asked if they could help fund the trip, which to me at least seemed like the usual way these things are done. A definitive response never arrived in sufficient time to allow for adequate planning and so I decided to make a 7-hour car journey and book a hotel at my own expense. When I got back home, we began setting out the terms of my contract which involved negotiating salary, all standard. What happened next is anything but. I was told by HR that the terms I was looking for were absolutely fine and all they needed was sign off from someone higher up who was out of office, the whole process should be completed within a few days. It took 2 weeks before I received a definitive response. Unbelievably the response was that the role had been pulled and they could no longer offer me the position. Apparently, the company decided to close out a lot of their open positions including mine as this fit their overall business direction more. I know this isn’t unusual for small start-ups but for a company the size of EVBox I would not expect this kind of response. I am sure they will try to justify this with the usual ‘but we‘re in a scale up phase, so these things can happen’ but it is unfathomable to me how a company the size of EVBox can make such an important business decision to grow in size, go out into the market, interview a ton of people, make offers and in my case bring someone to the very end of the process, leave me waiting 2 weeks for an update and then say, ‘Sorry we made a mistake…’ From a professional point of view this indicates just how poorly the company is organised at the top and how they lack any clear vision for the business. Unfortunately, this unprofessionalism also impacts how HR organise their hiring processes. From an ethical point of view, it shows how lacking the company is in its treatment of potential employees. Think long and hard about whether this is the kind of company you would like to work for and whether you can trust them in any way to deliver on what they promise. In retrospect I am glad the role was pulled before I moved and that I didn’t start only to find after a few months’ I was fired because this also suited their business needs more. Companies ruin their reputation for behaviour like this and in EVBox‘s case, it would be entirely justified.

Pros

- Nice office - Knowledgeable co-workers

Cons

I have never experienced a hiring process as badly executed as I have with EVBox. After my initial application I progressed through to the final stage of the process, which was a call with one of the C levels, this is where things began to fall apart. The video link HR sent was no longer valid and I could not join the call in time, a new link was sent by the interviewer. I was then told that as I was late and that they use this technology all the time maybe ‘some people i.e., me’ must have difficulty understanding how technology like this works. As the call progressed it became apparent that the interviewer was reading my CV for the first time as we spoke. When it came to my nationality I was then asked ‘Are you some kind of British…’ As it happens I‘m Irish. I’m not particularly nationalistic but being asked something so bluntly and with no apparent understanding of the intricacies of the Irish relationship with Britain is just careless and deeply inconsiderate. Needless to say, I was not left with a positive impression. My worries were allayed somewhat by the very positive impression I got from my potential line manager and immediate co-worker and so I decided to continue in the process, eventually the role was offered to me. However, before I made my final decision, which would involve me relocating, I asked to see their HQ in Amsterdam. The HR rep I had been dealing with all along said that due to COVID they were no longer conducting meetings in their office. This is understandable but I explained that I would still like to at least meet my potential co-workers in person and to see if I could actually live in the city. I was asked if I could pay to fly myself, but I was reluctant to spend hundreds of euro on a last minute plane ticket for a job I was already unsure about. I asked if they could help fund the trip, which to me at least seemed like the usual way these things are done. A definitive response never arrived in sufficient time to allow for adequate planning and so I decided to make a 7-hour car journey and book a hotel at my own expense. When I got back home, we began setting out the terms of my contract which involved negotiating salary, all standard. What happened next is anything but. I was told by HR that the terms I was looking for were absolutely fine and all they needed was sign off from someone higher up who was out of office, the whole process should be completed within a few days. It took 2 weeks before I received a definitive response. Unbelievably the response was that the role had been pulled and they could no longer offer me the position. Apparently, the company decided to close out a lot of their open positions including mine as this fit their overall business direction more. I know this isn’t unusual for small start-ups but for a company the size of EVBox I would not expect this kind of response. I am sure they will try to justify this with the usual ‘but we‘re in a scale up phase, so these things can happen’ but it is unfathomable to me how a company the size of EVBox can make such an important business decision to grow in size, go out into the market, interview a ton of people, make offers and in my case bring someone to the very end of the process, leave me waiting 2 weeks for an update and then say, ‘Sorry we made a mistake…’ From a professional point of view this indicates just how poorly the company is organised at the top and how they lack any clear vision for the business. Unfortunately, this unprofessionalism also impacts how HR organise their hiring processes. From an ethical point of view, it shows how lacking the company is in its treatment of potential employees. Think long and hard about whether this is the kind of company you would like to work for and whether you can trust them in any way to deliver on what they promise. In retrospect I am glad the role was pulled before I moved and that I didn’t start only to find after a few months’ I was fired because this also suited their business needs more. Companies ruin their reputation for behaviour like this and in EVBox‘s case, it would be entirely justified.