I had my interview at the end of 2022, and the process consisted of four steps. In the first interview, they asked about my experience, what I learned in my first job, and a few general questions about REST APIs and idempotency, as far as I remember. I successfully passed this stage and was given a take-home task to develop an API server with a few endpoints. I completed it successfully as well.
After submitting the task, I was supposed to attend a third interview to discuss my implementation. However, they skipped that step and moved me directly to the final interview with the CEOs. They told me they would inform me about the schedule, but the interview kept getting postponed for about two months. Finally, in February of the following year, I had the last interview. I answered their questions as best as I could, but they eventually told me I had failed.
The frustrating part was the long wait and mixed signals. During that time, they even asked whether I could get a release letter from my current company, and I said yes. Because of this, I genuinely believed they intended to hire me. I also received encouragement from someone working at the company who referred me and suggested that things were moving forward. After waiting for two months, I followed up with HR multiple times, and eventually, they arranged the final interview, which later felt like it might have been just a formality.