I was in the final stages of a recruitment process for which there was only me and one other person under consideration. The job was for an external role (meaning that it was outward-facing from Finland…dealing with those who are outside of Finland). The role did not specify a requirement for Finnish language because the people who this person would be working with did not speak Finnish. As one of the final two, and with a lot of experience in this type of role both in Finland and outside of Finland, I had great hopes. But when the answer came, it was a no. They decided to go with the Finnish candidate because they could speak Finnish (not a requirement for the role) “just in case someone wasn’t comfortable” inside the organisation. Looking back, maybe I should have appealed the decision, but I was just so disappointed.