Excellent interview panel, but extremely unethical interview practises.
I had applied online from India. In the initial phone screen, the recruiter explained about the role, the relocation assistance to Amsterdam, the interview process. An amazing phone screen with good discussions and I was happy to be short-listed.
They sent along a technical assignment, which I cleared and had a technical round with a QA engineer. We had some excellent technical discussions and he said that they were all very impressed with all the deliverables in the assignment.
The recruiter kept me updated every step of the way and scheduled the final round with the hiring manager, who was again a warm, understanding and cheerful person. This was mostly a situational interview, mostly focused on my work experience and how I handle certain scenarios.
I cleared all rounds and here's where the trouble begins. The recruiter says that he would like to have a final word with me. After I accept the invite, he asks me to consider a position in India as they are opening up a new developmental centre here. I ultimately decided not to consider it as this wasn't what was conveyed to me all along and it didn't align with my personal goals.
He then informed me it would be tough to consider me for a relocation.
Thanks Backbase for leading me on, keeping my hopes up, and wasting 4 weeks of my time. If you were not offering relocation, it would have been amazing if you could have conveyed that in the phone screen itself.
PS: I don't think this would happen with any other candidates from other countries, so please do apply and I hope you score, as Backbase seems like an excellent place to work, filled with the best teams and amazing people. I'm disappointed that I couldn't be a part of it.