I believed, I was used only to justify hiring an internal candidate (most likely H1-B). The interview went well, both technically and personally, except the recruiters messed up the interview process so some interviewers were not available. Instead of finishing it, they just emailed me, that they decided on an internal candidate, even though they liked me. I resubmitted my resume for other job positions which were subsequent ignored, even though another recruiter talked to me and after learning of what happened, never called back. My interview went well enough, that the entire process seemed strange, like they were covering up the fact I was being used and they had to cover it up. I would not recommend taking time off, only to be treated in what seem like a biased interview process that might technically be a violation of EOE.

I was referred by a friend of mine and contacted by HR soon after. The first round was a standard phone interview with coderpad. I passed the first round and was invited onsite a week later. The onsite interview was a breeze; questions were fair and not difficult. Some coding questions and some high level design questions were asked, but nothing insanely difficult or things you couldn't figure out without basic CS fundamentals. I do not like the kind of trick questions that became very popular in the valley. You have to "study"'/"memorize" your interviews, otherwise the interviewer would belittle you despite of your work experience. This time eBay got it right.