This was the most cynical interview experience I've encountered. The entire process appeared to be orchestrated by a recruiter with a predetermined rejection agenda.

BACKGROUND: I was referred into the general pool and never applied to the DevEx team specifically (the role required TypeScript, which I don't have). The recruiter matched me to DevEx without discussion or a team matching process.

PHONE SCREEN: Passed with positive feedback. Then, complete silence for 2 weeks, despite following up twice. No response until the second follow-up.

HIRING MANAGER CHAT: When finally contacted, was scheduled for an HM discussion. The HM himself said this chat 'should have been before the phone screen' and was surprised to learn I'd already passed technical screening, indicating zero communication from the recruiter. Ironically, this was the only genuine interaction. The HM was engaged, sold the role, didn't care about the TypeScript gap, and confirmed the onsite would proceed.

VIRTUAL ONSITE: Stark contrast to the HM chat. Both interviewers were notably disengaged. The first mostly just nodded with minimal questions; the second had poor interaction. Less than 1 hour after completing just 2 of 4 rounds, received a message that 'scores have already been entered and neither is passing.' Remaining interviews canceled.

ANALYSIS: The timeline is impossible for genuine evaluation. Two interviewers writing feedback, recruiter review, and a decision cannot happen in under an hour. Combined with the recruiter's behavior throughout (2-week silence requiring repeated follow-up, then sudden urgency to reject), the disengaged interviewers, and the contrast with the engaged HM, this appeared to be a predetermined rejection with the onsite merely fulfilling procedural requirements.

The recruiter seemed to be operating independently of the hiring manager, randomly matching candidates from the pool, and rushing to close cases. When the strong phone screen feedback and HM approval didn't provide natural rejection points, a fake onsite with a predetermined outcome became the solution.

This systematic manipulation wasted significant time and effort from multiple parties: candidate preparation, HM engagement, interviewer time – all for an outcome that appeared decided before the onsite began.

Strongly advise candidates to be wary of this recruiting process.

Improve the Task Queue System