First interview with the hiring manager. He asked some pretty basic questions about me and the role. Then the technical assessment came: tough, but totally doable with the right research. Two coding questions plus a few Linux-based ones in a terminal, most around Datadog features. After that, there was an interview with the Team Lead, more about my technical background and pre-sales experience. Then another call with the Hiring Manager, who told me the next step is to prepare a presentation about any technical tool I know well and am confident to present. Fine — I chose my own SaaS tool. Had several more prep calls with the Team Lead, who specifically told me not to focus too much on the technical side since I “already had that covered.” Instead, I should highlight the sales aspect. So I did exactly that. It took me quite a while to finish the presentation and then flew to the Dublin office to deliver it; six people were watching, three in a room and three on camera. The session took about an hour; there were lots of questions about my experience. They said I’d have one hour total, then right before asked me to take a 15-minute break. Turns out that break was counted as part of my presentation time. The feedback? My presentation “wasn’t technical enough,” even though they literally told me to focus on sales. I also “went 15 minutes over schedule” — which apparently was their break. So yeah, weeks of preparation, lots of work, only to be rejected for the same things they told me to do. A painful process for absolutely nothing.