I applied online.

I recently had a technical interview experience and wanted to share some constructive feedback. Before the interview, the recruiter, Zobia, shared a PDF with clear guidelines. It mentioned ensuring Android Studio was ready, creating a new project beforehand, running it on the emulator, and even adding commonly used Gradle dependencies in advance. Following these instructions, I prepared an empty project with the dependencies I typically use in day-to-day development. However, during the interview, I was asked to create a completely new project from scratch and add all dependencies manually by searching for them online. I requested to use my prepared setup and personal notes, which I maintain for version references, but I was advised not to use them.

Due to version mismatches and fresh setup compilation, around 20–25 minutes were spent resolving Gradle and build issues. As a result, I could only complete about half of the assigned task within the one-hour timeframe. I fully understand that interviewers may want to assess practical setup knowledge, but there seemed to be a mismatch between the pre-shared guidelines and the expectations during the interview. Clear alignment beforehand could help candidates utilize interview time more effectively and focus on demonstrating their development skills. Overall, the process was professional, and I appreciate the opportunity. I hope this feedback helps improve the candidate experience going forward.

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