TLDR Version:

TERRIBLE experience. Interviewer was at a park or something and wasn't fully invested in the interview. Asked questions not at all related to the role. I had to repeat questions to the interviewer a few times due to him not fully listening. Recruiter ghosted me, never got an update. Ghosting tells a lot about their character in my opinion.

Long version:

Applied online and a recruiter contacted me about a week later to set up a screening call. Topics were the usual, in addition to briefing me on what they anticipated paying, which was WELL below market. But I figured I'd still go through with the process since I hadn't interviewed in a while.

Had a technical phone screen about a week later with a Principal Engineer on the team, and this had to have been the worst experience I've ever had while interviewing. I prepped according to the job requirements and some general topics in a packet the recruiter sent me on the stack they use at PayPal.

I was asked questions that were NOT AT ALL related to the role I was interviewing for. The interviewer also sounded like he was at a park because I could hear cars, people talking, and kids playing in the background. I could tell he wasn't paying attention because I had to repeat my questions a few times due to no response on his end.

I knew from that call I wasn't going to be moved forward with the process, but I still sent an email to check in with the recruiter a couple weeks later, who said they had contacted the team for feedback. Nothing, they ghosted me, couldn't even tell me they moved on.

I ended up landing a MUCH BETTER position elsewhere.

Cryptography questions