I went through several screenings, a presentation, an 8-person panel, and then spoke to the chief engineer at Rivian.

Overall, I spent over 7 hours interviewing and spoke with over 9 people at the company. I was basically told that if I got to the final round (chief engineer), I would have the job. The final round interview went excellently; I received compliments from the interviewer during the interview, etc. I fully expected and was led to believe I'd have an offer.

What happened next I can only describe as baffling. HR would not give me a straight answer regarding the position. For the following months, they kept telling me, "headcount is under review," whenever I inquired. If the position no longer existed, they should have just told me. After spending 7 hours interviewing, the least they could do is give me a 'no.' That takes far less effort and energy than leading me on for months.

After this experience, I want nothing to do with this company. I easily satisfy the criteria for many engineering job openings but have no desire to apply for a different position due to this experience.

Bonus red flag: I am a woman engineer with automotive experience. Out of the team of approximately 30 engineers, I found out there was only one woman engineer on the team. For the culture portion of the interview, that one woman engineer was the interviewer. This was odd because she was also brand new (less than two months at Rivian). Why was a brand-new engineer giving me an interview regarding cultural fit if she herself had just joined the company and was learning the culture? This came across as blatant pandering rather than a concentrated effort to attract diverse talent.

They asked primarily STAR format questions.