The first interview was a brief 10-15-minute session with Violet via Zoom. It was straightforward and went smoothly.
About a week later, I had a second interview with a panel of 4 people, also conducted over Zoom. This stage was still manageable, and the experience was positive overall.
Three weeks later, I was scheduled for a "final round" interview, supposedly with Violet, the co-founder, and another senior member whose name I can't recall. To my surprise, Violet and the co-founder did not attend the session. Only the third person (let's call him "A") was present. A mentioned that the other two interviewers were "not available."
While I was willing to proceed, the atmosphere shifted dramatically. A came across as hostile, and his demeanor suggested he was uninterested in being there. He asked a few highly specific questions, the kind that only someone with insider knowledge would likely know. His responses to my answers felt more like condescending corrections than constructive feedback, which left me feeling belittled.
Conclusion
I understand that not every candidate will be the right fit for a role, and rejection is part of the process. However, the lack of professionalism in this experience was disappointing. If the interviewers couldn't attend, a simple reschedule or even a cancellation would have shown respect for the candidate's time and effort. Being made to go through the final round under such circumstances felt unnecessarily discourteous.
Ultimately, while I didn’t get the job, I felt relieved after the final interview session. I knew there's no chance I would get the job with only 1/3 of the decision makers being present which was unfair for me but I it chalked it down to part of the job-hunting process.