It started off great and I was very excited. This was for an entry level role.
I was put through multiple interview rounds, more than I've encountered. As I went through, they felt casual, but it became apparent most weren't prepared with questions to ask me. At the same time they kept stressing they needed me to be a good personality fit. For me, I prepared extensively for every interview, and for them, it felt like it was their first time even seeing my resume when they opened the zoom call. It started to feel like they were deciding if I was cool enough to work there rather than understand my credentials.
One of the biggest red flags was one interview that I would compare to a stress interview. The way the questions were asked were competitive, aggressive and it felt they were intentionally trying to knock me off my feet or make me uncomfortable. I honestly felt like I was being sized up and it kind of shook me that a non managerial employee was willing to go into an interview with that kind of attitude towards. I've done a lot of challenging interviews but I've never been treated like that before. The experience left me feeling really uncomfortable with the process and gave me cold feet about the company as a whole.
I also was asked to do a project and presentation that I put a lot of effort into. Word of advice, if you're asked to work on a project for them, I would ask them to evaluate you using another method, especially if they use your free market research for their own benefit. I had to learn that the hard way. After the presentation I was told I would be a great fit and that I would shortly hear word from them about an offer only to have other interviews added and weeks go by.
Eventually the red flags started to pile up for me and I withdrew my candidacy once I got another offer. My application withdrawal and my decision was also not respected and was met with an unprofessional response. It felt like they were personally insulted that I withdrew my candidacy, when I think my decision should have been respected, end of story. I'm female and slightly older than your typical entry level candidate and I've never had an experience like this in my life and it really left a bad taste in my mouth.
I wasn't going to put my story here but around a year later it's still on my mind. It sounded like a cool company and these may have been growing pains or miscommunications in the interview process. Regardless, I'm writing this because I hope this doesn't happen to other candidates. The time and effort we put in should be respected and it shouldn't feel like a popularity contest.