Typical process:

• Recruiter calls and asks about expectations.
• Sets up an initial screening with the hiring manager.
• An in-person interview with a group of people, which lasts almost half a day.

I rate the experience as negative, not because I did not get an offer, as some might think. I am not sure how this company's value is 'fun' whereas all I had was not fun during the interview.

First of all, this was set up as a lunch interview by the hiring manager, and I was surprised when I had to pay for my own lunch, which I did not get to eat because the interview was ongoing. This was a big turn-off for me, and had I not been in dire need of a job at that time, I would have left already.

Secondly, the hiring manager was a couple of years senior to me from the same institute where I did my MBA, and that relationship was established when we spoke over the phone. So there was a lot in common, like professors, courses, alumni, etc., and we got along well initially. I wasn't looking for any favor as such, but at the end of the interview, she says everything is fine, but I do not know Java (mind you, I come from a Microsoft background and was mostly working on C# at that time).

My problem is that this was not in the job description, nor was it on my resume. So if this was so important, why waste my time?

My verdict is that somehow I got stuck in the wrong group during this interview. No matter how financially sound this company is or how good other people may find it, there are bad seeds everywhere, and one might have a bad experience like mine. This was stuck in my mind for a long time, and I just could not forget. So I had put this on some platform.

It has been almost one and a half years. I'm not sure if I recall everything, but the questions were not technical in nature. They were mostly about soft skills, asking what I would do if this or that happened.