I have spent the last four months in a recruitment dance with an American company that has European headquarters in Paris. They still haven't hired for the role that we were discussing, and that's OK. Recruiting the right person is important, but running the process badly is very bad for the brand. Sadly, they revealed their real brand values during the interview process. And because they claimed that culture was the reason for not making an offer, I'm happy to tell you what I learned about their culture during the process.
First, their culture is very slow moving. Four months to go from first contact to deciding I wasn't the right candidate.
Second, their culture is very rude. They needed to be chased endlessly by the recruiter working the assignment to get them to move on to the next stage.
Third, the role had two bosses, and they didn't seem to be playing nicely together. One was in Paris and one was in the USA. They clearly wanted an intermediary between them but weren't prepared to agree on a candidate that could do this job. So far they have taken 14 months and still no candidate in sight.
In the end, I'm glad they didn't make an offer. The job was pretty cool, it was well within my capabilities, I would have loved living in Paris. But their real culture and real brand values didn't fit mine.
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