I wanted to share direct feedback on my interview experience. The interviewers were professional, kind, and engaged throughout the manager, product, system design, and coding rounds. I felt the conversations were collaborative, and I made sure to explain my assumptions, tradeoffs, and decisions clearly while checking alignment along the way. That is why the outcome felt disappointing and confusing. During the prep call, I was told another candidate had already completed the final loop and was in the debrief stage. My rejection then came early in the morning on the same day my own debrief was scheduled, before normal business hours for the interviewers’ time zones. I understand that hiring is competitive and companies may move forward with other candidates. However, the timing created the impression that the role may have already been far along before my process was fully considered. The interviewers were excellent, but the overall process left me feeling that candidate time and transparency could have been handled better. For future candidates, I would strongly recommend being more transparent when a role is already in late stage debrief with another candidate before continuing intensive final-round interviews.

The interview process was great and went smoothly. The recruiter and senior engineer were nice and accommodating throughout the phone screen and technical interview processes, as well as clear about expectations and the prep material.