I was referred for the position by an employee and the job wasn't publicly posted, so I assume all interviewees came through referrals. After sending my resume, the team quickly set up an interview. During the panel, I was asked several technical questions , including ones on APIs- which I answered thoroughly even though it was not present in my resume. Afterward, I followed up with one of the interviewers who told me that everyone on the panel liked me and it was a great interview. I was told to expect an update the following week. However, by the end of the week, I received a rejection email. When I reached out to my referrer, they said the interview had gone well, but the team felt I lacked data engineering experience and that my resume didn’t highlight API-related work - which was a key requirement. This confused me, as my resume had been reviewed and shortlisted before the interview, and I had demonstrated strong understanding of APIs during the discussion, which was acknowledged positively at the time. I can’t help but feel that perhaps someone referred by a higher authority may have been prioritized, but of course, that’s just speculation. Either way, it’s disappointing and disheartening, especially after such encouraging feedback.