Got to the technical block of the interview pipeline. It consisted of system design and general engineering interviews, 1,5 hrs each, and scheduled simultaneously for separate dates during a week window. Got rejected after the system design one, which is ok by itself, but considering the following: * the recruiter and the hiring manager presented the tech interview stage as a single block (thus the simultaneous scheduling) * there was no clear communication indicating that the items within a block are gatekeepers for each other * the rejection letter was sent less than 24 hrs before the next scheduled tech interview * the company due to some emergency on their side had rescheduled the general eng interview within 24 hrs before the event All this effectively resulted in 4.5 hrs of blocked time on my end (1,5 hrs system design interview + 1,5 hrs of last-minute rescheduling + 1,5 hrs of canceled) which exceeded the originally set (and agreed upon via the meeting schedule acceptance) expectations of 3 hrs. The actually interview comprised 30% of the allocated block. While the rejection letter provided feedback for the interview parts which took place, the communication gaps and process limitations were not acknowledged. To the company I suggest giving clear and unambiguous information about the hiring process: its structure, dependencies and possible outcomes, so that candidates could plan their time effectively in advance. To the potential applicants: explicitly ask about this information and extra details.

Very simple process, with 4-5 interviews. Did an HR interview, Hiring manager, technical challenge and system design. Everyone was kind and I had the time and opportunity to express myself.