I wanted to share my recent hiring experience with Arista Networks, which unfortunately turned into one of the most frustrating processes I’ve encountered — mainly due to poor communication and lack of transparency.

After clearing multiple interview rounds, I was told to expect an offer discussion. During the first round of discussions with the manager, I shared my expected compensation, and the manager mentioned that the number would need approval from the directors. I understood that and was ready to wait for internal approvals.

However, a few days later, I was informed that my expected number wasn’t approved, and we had to schedule another discussion round to revisit compensation with the manager. During this second round, he proposed the same number that had been initially discussed in the first round, and I agreed to it. Everything seemed finalized.

But things took an unexpected turn. Despite my follow-ups, the offer letter never arrived. Instead, the HR team started asking for a raise letter from my current employer — even though I had already accepted their final offer number. This back-and-forth made no sense, especially since I had already shown full transparency during the earlier discussions.

It also felt like they were trying to lowball my salary, despite knowing my market value and experience. The inconsistency between what was discussed and what was later asked for raised serious doubts about the fairness of the process.

Hiring, in my view, should be a mutual process — where both sides choose each other based on trust, professionalism, and respect. Unfortunately, the way Arista handled this entire process left me questioning that. No matter how technically strong an organization might be, a poor and inconsistent hiring process speaks volumes about its internal culture.

I eventually decided to withdraw my candidature, not out of frustration, but because I couldn’t trust the process anymore.

I sincerely hope Arista’s recruitment team reflects on experiences like this and ensures that future candidates are treated with the professionalism and transparency they deserve.

They say they will ask C++ questions, but they ask C questions, especially for the EOS team.