The interview process was extremely stressful and ultimately felt unprofessional.
The process started with a recruiter call to discuss the role and company, followed by an online skills test that required full screen recording and camera monitoring. This felt unnecessarily invasive. After that, I completed a one-hour interview with the hiring manager and a final technical interview with a senior engineer.
After the final interview, the recruiter called me and said my performance was good and that the next step would be preparing an offer. We discussed compensation expectations, and I was told this would be reviewed internally with the hiring manager.
From that point on, communication completely broke down. I followed up multiple times due to my genuine interest in the role and received no response. After a week, I called the recruiter directly and was told that they were still interviewing other candidates and had nearly finalized the process. The following week, I was explicitly told I would receive an update regardless of the decision — but I never did. Even after additional follow-up emails, there was no response.
I fully understand that companies may find a more suitable candidate or decide that compensation expectations don’t align with their budget. That is completely reasonable. What was disappointing was the lack of transparency and basic courtesy. Being told performance was good and that an offer was coming, only to be completely ghosted afterward, felt disrespectful.
Candidates invest significant time and effort into multi-stage interview processes, and clear communication should be a minimum expectation.