First, I was reached out by the recruiter, and the initial phone screen was 20-30 minutes long. I made it pretty clear why I was looking for a job.

Then I had a technical phone screen with the interviewer. I did complete the question within 30 minutes. But still, there was time left, so the interviewer asked me to write the iterative version of the solution, although I did explain that there would be no improvement in time/space complexity. But still, on insisting, I wrote the iterative solution.

Then I heard back from the interviewer that I had cleared the interview and a couple of teams were interested in my profile, and one of the managers would like to talk to me before the onsite interview. So I thought it was just an informal call with the manager, and the recruiter also mentioned it. Turns out it was a managerial round where I was asked what I had been doing for the past year and why I am looking for a job. Well, I did explain and answer all the questions, and then he happened to explain to me different teams at Databricks.

To my shock, the next day I got a rejection email. When I contacted the recruiter, I asked how I could receive a rejection now when I was supposed to have the onsite interview, and the call with the manager was informal. She explained, saying it was informal, but the manager liked to deep dive whether I was suited for an onsite interview. This is the most horrible experience I had in an interview where I was told we would soon be scheduling the onsite, and then being told I was rejected based on an informal call? Although from the beginning itself, during the first 30-minute call, I had clearly explained why I was looking for a job. I would not interview with Databricks again in my life.

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