Weirdest interview experience with Confluent
Confluent is probably a good company. The numbers are clearly showing that its on the right trajectory. I was rejected but had an interesting loop experience. Wanted to know if folks had similar experience and/or want to give any feedback. (not disclosing too many details on purpose) Was contacted by the hiring manager few weeks ago. Had a great conversation. Did a phone screen (coding) that went really well. Then went onsite. Had 2 design rounds, one algo round and one with the hiring manager. The design rounds went really well. I got on the spot feedbacks like no one had provided so many different approaches, I know you know this really well and we both agree ..., great! I like where you’re going with this, you read my mind, very rarely this round is finished 15 mins earlier and you covered everything etc. The made a few mistakes in algo round. The question was simple so I focused too much on optimizing it and missed a few corner cases. Unfortunately, the follow up questions were based on those corner cases. Eventually was able to arrive to the solution and code it. It wasnt smooth but IMO I didnt do super bad either. Then had a very positive round with the hiring manager. In sum, out of 5 total interviews, I certainly did well on 4 interviews. How do I know it? Interviewers were very interactive and were giving a lot of implicit and explicit feedback. The recruiter told me that she would get back to me in a few days but then she contacts me the very next day and says Im rejected without giving any reasons/brief details.🤔 Ive taken many interviews myself and if there was a weak signal in one area and strong in other then we call back and have it reassessed. In this case, neither happened. Plus the result was super quick. I've no f*king idea of how their debriefing happens. Thoughts?
Similar thing happened to me with another company recently. The recruiter just sends an email saying thank you but no thanks. No feedback, no improvement points. I think the interviewers will always put on a fake happy face to avoid showing any negative signals. Depends on the company, some are really quick to make a decision. For example, Booking interviewers get together on the same day after the interview sessions to discuss and make a decision.
I understand the reason behind not providing interview feedback as they scared that the candidate might sue the company. Trust me I know the difference between fake smiley face and genuinely happy face/feedback on the spot 😄
That's not really a weird experience, it happens. Someone who was a better candidate probably got the job.
I know that happens all the time but recruiters typically tell you that they found better or maybe it was my first time experiencing hot or not competition 🙃 Either ways I expected some integrity and respect for my time.
Move on dude. Lets say, you have accepted an offer from tier4 level company and just before your joining day, you got google offer..What will you do? Integrity and respect boy??😊😀
Haha...
Companies in general won't give you a detailed feedback about your rejection bec that's a potential lawsuit. I say move on. If you fumbled on the algo, study it and do better next time.. 😊
Also getting negative feedback in a day is nothing wrong.
They won't give you a feedback. That's a legal liability to the company. Recruiter talking here.
Sorry, pardon me, but engineers hate recruiters bcoz the way they flip after interviews is just too bad. Funny thing is a few months after they approach with sugary emails to re-interview. I hate recruiters in general!
What level were you interviewing for? If it was Staff+ the bar is usually set pretty high. For these levels the expectation is to get everything right. A few hiccups that may be overlooked for a Senior SWE position may turn into a no hire for higher levels.
I have experienced this many times..Move on is what i have learnt.