All applicants have to take a behavioral and basic competency online exam. After passing it, it took a month before the recruiter reached out again to set up a phone interview. Was supposed to speak with two engineers, but one never called and the second one rescheduled twice. Recruiters seemed to be annoyed with me informing them of the rescheduling. When the call eventually happened, the engineer was unprepared and seemed to have trouble remembering what position I was applying for. Eventually he found the script either he or the department prepared and read directly off of that, describing what the position entailed. Had high hopes for this opportunity, but will not be moving forward with this application.

This has honestly been one of the worst interview experiences I’ve had. Right from the screening round, I clearly stated my expectation - 26 LPA, considering my current fixed is 18 LPA. They agreed to it upfront. Then they rushed the process saying the role needed to be closed ASAP, asked me to come in person, and crammed all rounds into one day. I travelled 25 km for this. The interviews went well. They even made me take the UCAT test, which I cleared. Everything seemed positive, and I was waiting for the HR discussion. Then suddenly, after a week, they come back saying I need to go through another technical round. Fine, I did that too - only to be asked completely random puzzle questions that had nothing to do with my AI experience or actual work. And then comes the real shock — I’m told I’m selected, but the role is downgraded from SE2 to SE. Seriously? On top of that, the offer is now 21 fixed + 4 variable. When I questioned this, all I got was: “You’re lucky you got selected, otherwise we usually have 3 rounds.” Excuse me? I already went through a coding test, an in-person AI discussion, and another technical round. What exactly was all that then? This entire process just feels like a complete waste of time, effort, and energy. Honestly, it’s frustrating beyond words.