1 - recruiter call
2 - hiring manager screening
3 - take home assignment
4 - panel interview (review assignment)
4 - hands on buddy programming
The assignment was to create an end to end data pipeline including ingestion, orchestration, data transformation, output. It is definitely overkill for a take home, and seemed like free work honestly. None of the panelists had even bothered to deploy and run the assignment even once.
The most confusing part though was the panel interview to review the assignment. It seemed like a competition between the panelists to find issues in your design, code and approach. It wasn't a healthy discussion, rather a very aggressive questioning with the panelists not keen on entertaining any alternative design other than what they suggest. They will deride you, and just did not seem like a nice group.
The manager seems like the micro managing type, very aggressive and the whole thing doesn't give out a healthy workplace vibe.
Do not expect Any feedback after your interviews. Honestly I was relieved I didn't go through the panel interview, seemed like a toxic place to work for, based on the attitudes of each interviewer. Unless they already have a favorite person selected, I can bet this position is going to be open for a long time.