The interview process revealed that the local teams have zero autonomy from the headquarters in Copenhagen, as well as zero respect for my time.

To begin, I was contacted by a recruiter out of the blue for an application I had submitted weeks before, with no prior email or communication. I was told that he was delayed in contacting me because multiple candidates who had reached advanced stages of the interview process had failed. That's important to remember.

I was informed I would be sent a take-home coding test that afternoon to work on over the weekend. I received it five days later, while I was on vacation. When I returned, I invested significant time and effort into writing highly optimized code, which the recruiter had stressed. After I submitted it, the recruiter contacted me to share that he had been informed by the manager in Austin that it was the best submission he had seen for that position. All of the other candidates (who had reached advanced stages) had had to resubmit with corrections multiple times, whereas the manager considered mine exceptionally well done. It still had to go to Copenhagen for review (Yes, Copenhagen. Not the team that was looking to make the hire, or even the local team or country), but he was sure I could be onsite within a few days.

Cut to a few days later, and the recruiter called me back to relay that Copenhagen had decided my code was so riddled with mistakes that I couldn't possibly possess the seniority required for the position.

Which amounts to this: I applied for a senior-level position. I had discussed with the recruiter that I didn't have X years of experience yet, and he stated that it was perfectly fine; if they liked me, they would hire me as a non-senior developer for that position. I did, however, have a tremendous amount of experience doing the incredibly specific thing this position required (I wish them luck finding somebody else...). Essentially, the local team liked my application, but Copenhagen reviewed my resume first and decided I didn't have enough years, and that was that. The recruiter then lacked the fortitude to confess he had wasted an inordinate amount of my time and fabricated a story about mistakes in my submission.

Everything about the process left a rancid taste in my mouth, to the extent that I don't mind burning bridges here at all. So, thank you, recruiter dude, but I don't think I'll be wasting any more of my time connecting with you on LinkedIn. I can't say I'm interested in any other opportunities Unity has to offer. If you value autonomy in your workplace and your time in general, I'd steer clear.

I was given a take-home coding test as a precursor to any other interviews.