I had my first interview in late April. It was supposed to be an introductory call with the recruiter; however, a technical person unexpectedly joined and started asking random technical questions while eating his dinner. The questions weren’t particularly difficult, but the approach felt quite unprofessional. At the end of the call, the recruiter mentioned that I would hear back by the end of May regarding whether I had been selected for the next stage, which would include another technical interview. Now it’s July, and I still haven’t received any update — not even a rejection email. I find it extremely rude and unprofessional when companies fail to provide any feedback. How hard is it to send a simple rejection email? I really dislike wasting my time with companies that show such a lack of respect for candidates.

Process proceeded quickly and smoothly. There was a glitch in the order of interviewers so I had lunch with someone with whom I should have had a technical interview. I was not told his role which had an adverse effect on our conversation. Eventually, they checked my references. They wanted quite a few and some sort of indication of relationship and relevance. Very strangely, they checked with my *least* relevant ones (QEs who had consumed my work) and did not bother with my most relevant ones (former managers and fellow engineers from projects similar to the work I would be doing at Biotronik). Either I was stabbed in the back by a reference or there was some sort of mistake in the process. I was unable to find out what had happened. Too bad, this looked like a great opportunity. Curiously, over the weekend, I was taken on a tour of the area by a real estate person who worked closely with Biotronik. This was clearly part of the interview and he gives his report on candidates to HR. Despite feeling a little creepy at first, it turned out to be pleasant. It makes sense to me that they would wish to see how serious a candidate is about moving to Portland.