It started with some correspondence with the recruiter. She first reached out, saying she'd like to have a quick chat about the role and asked me to fill out a form with my availabilities.

She sent me the form a week later with a message stating she would be out on "Friday." However, the date she mentioned she'd be out was the following Tuesday, which was extremely confusing, but whatever.

When I opened the form, it only offered the option of scheduling for Thursday or Friday of that week. It was Wednesday when I received it. I couldn't schedule for Friday because she hadn't made it clear if she would be out then, leaving me to schedule for Thursday with less than 24 hours' notice.

I went ahead and scheduled the meeting for 10 AM Thursday. Guess what? She missed it. She then called me at 6 PM EDT (8 hours later!!) saying she figured she could catch me then because I had mentioned that I would be free any time after 1 PM that day. Are you serious?

I later got passed off to another recruiter, and the experience was MUCH more enjoyable from that point on. Holy cow, though. The first recruiter I was put in touch with was the most incompetent, unprofessional person I've ever worked with. Seriously, you have one job, and that's to schedule calls and show up on time.

From what I've read, the most difficult part for some people is getting past the initial stages with the recruiter, and I can see why. Thank God I stuck it out and eventually got an offer.

System design and easy/medium LeetCode.