The initial conversations were friendly and went well, as is typical in most recruitment processes. This was followed by an online challenge featuring quiz-like questions and a final coding exercise. The coding challenge itself wasn't particularly difficult. So far, so good.

Next, I had a Skype phone-screen interview, and that's when things became unusual. The interviewer was not very friendly from the start and did not allow me to introduce myself, jumping directly into some icebreaker questions. He then stated he wanted to focus on one of my projects from over two years ago. I agreed, mentioning that my more recent projects were more interesting in terms of technology and experience, but he ignored my suggestion. We discussed that older project. I was surprised not to be asked a single question related to front-end, JavaScript, or web development, especially since the role was for a full-stack position with some emphasis on the front-end.

Finally, I proceeded to the coding exercise. I explained my high-level approach, how I planned to handle certain cases, and then implemented the solution. It worked on the first try. Afterward, we discussed algorithm complexity, I asked some final questions, and we had a brief talk about the tech stack used in the product.

I left the interview feeling very confident about the onsite round. However, I later received news that they were not moving forward with my application. The rejection was delivered via a short, one-line email, not even a phone call.

Despite being surprised and a bit disappointed, I attempted to ask for feedback, as clearly something went wrong, and I wanted to understand the discrepancy between my perception and theirs. All I received was another one-liner stating they are not allowed to share feedback.

This is a bit unusual, as feedback is quite common for both positive and negative outcomes and demonstrates respect for the candidate's time and effort invested in the process.

NDA. You should be good with a good knowledge in algorithms, specifically recursion, array manipulation, and complexity.