I was contacted three times by a recruiter at GOhiring about a Product Designer role. After I finally replied with interest, he asked whether I was a “native German speaker,” even though my LinkedIn clearly states that I speak several languages fluently, including German. I have German family and have been bilingual all my life, even though I was not born in the country. The recruiter had already viewed my public portfolio, which is linked directly on my profile, yet still asked whether it was up to date. All of this happened only after I confirmed interest, which suggests that my profile was not reviewed properly before outreach. Requiring a “native” speaker for a design role is unnecessary and generally not compliant within EU hiring standards, and the overall process felt disorganised. For a small company trying to attract senior talent, this was a disappointing experience and raised several avoidable red flags.