I applied via referral. The recruiter reached out a few weeks later to set up a technical phone interview.

When the interview came up, I entered the meeting call. To my surprise, the recruiter had sent me the incorrect link for both the call and codepad. She had sent the details of an entirely other candidate who, based on the name provided, was of the same underrepresented race as me (which seemed suspicious).

I immediately emailed the recruiter, but received no answer. Finally, the interviewer called me and sent me the correct link via email so we could start the interview. The recruiter never responded to my email, not even to apologize for the mistake.

During the interview, the interviewer gave me the question. I informed him that I would be implementing the solution in X language, my stated language of choice to the recruiter.

The interviewer, surprised, stated he didn't know X language well. As a result, I spent half the interview explaining my solution and also the basics of X language, which wasted a significant amount of time.

He then asked if I could implement a solution in Y language, as that was his preferred language. I knew Y language, but not well enough to implement the solution on the spot. Furthermore, it is unfair to ask a candidate to switch languages mid-interview.

Needless to say, the interview went poorly.

After following up almost a week later, the recruiter emailed me about not proceeding to the onsite interview (which was unsurprising) due to insufficient Y language skills.

This was an absolutely awful experience. The recruiter clearly needs to improve their organizational skills.

I can't share full details, but it involved implementing a cache with certain constraints and characteristics.