Started off fine, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. The interview setup was quick. I applied through LinkedIn, was contacted by a friendly (at the time… more on that later) recruiter, did an initial screening call with that same recruiter, and then had an interview planned.

I very quickly cleared my schedule for seven interviews over the course of two days. Because my current job, where I am a senior and valuable employee, has a return-to-office mandate, I needed to hastily take time off. It seemed totally fine, as the role and the people initially appeared worth it.

I went through the interviews on Wednesday and Thursday. My recruiter told me I should have a decision by Friday, the next day. But then… crickets. Okay, Fridays in the summer can be tricky. I’m sure I’ll hear back by Monday.

Except I don’t. I wait until Wednesday and send an email. I get something back the next day telling me some BS and stalling. At this point, I should mention the recruiter stopped being friendly and was just being cold. I had a bad feeling about this but was curious.

By Friday, now a week past the original point when I should have heard back, I still hadn’t heard anything. I followed up again; more stalling.

Monday, I get a terse message about how everyone loved me but they made an offer to a candidate they liked slightly more. Fine. It happens, and I still have a good job, so I lose nothing. But this would be a good growth experience for me. Tell me what the gaps were because there must have been some tangible differences between the candidate you hired and me. I’m senior enough to want to know, and I can incorporate that knowledge into how I apply myself and what I learn and practice. That’s how good employees improve.

Nah, I get a generic, “Gosh, we liked you, but we liked the other guy a bit more, sorry” wishy-washy reply. What, did you flip a coin? Between the unbelievably unprofessional protracted wait time after I donated a bunch of hours on short notice to the interview process and the completely useless feedback, I went from being incredibly bullish on Sofi to never, ever considering working for them. I’m glad they showed their true colors over the course of our prolonged interaction, but it was incredibly disappointing, and I now make a habit of dissuading colleagues that I hear considering a role with Sofi from wasting their time.

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