I had an initial call with a recruiter named Srilatha for a Software Engineer 2 position at the Minneapolis office. The call started out light and fine, discussing basic questions with some technical background.

The recruiter asked me which I preferred more: backend or frontend development, and roughly how much experience I had with each. I stated I might have 60% experience with frontend versus approximately 40% with backend, and that I happen to enjoy frontend a little more than backend. However, that doesn't mean I can't code on the backend or that I don't enjoy it. I also let her know that on any given day, I could do more backend than frontend, or vice versa.

The recruiter informed me that this is a backend-heavy position and ultimately stated she would not be moving me forward with the interview process. I asked if she would at least send the interview notes to the hiring manager, and she replied she wouldn't, adding that she already knew what the hiring manager was looking for.

To top it off, there were multiple noises on her side of the call, and I felt I needed to talk louder for her to hear me. At one point, she also said she needed to take a moment and put me on hold briefly.

I am frustrated, as I feel my time was wasted and I wasn't even given a chance for my notes to reach the hiring manager so that the hiring manager could have the final say.

This is my second negative experience with Chewy interviews to date. About a year ago, I had applied to a software position and was completely ghosted by the recruiter on the first call. I don't think I will apply to Chewy again.