HR contacted me a few days after the closing date of the position to setup an interview. I was briefed that the interview process consists of two stages, both being online. HR was friendly and responded quickly to all my emails with questions about the process.
The first interview was scheduled to take place roughly a week after HR contacted me, and consisted of a ten minute presentation in front of a three person panel. I could choose if I either want to present an algorithm that I think is relevant for data science or code that demonstrates good software engineering practices. The presentation was followed by a discussion with the panel. The panel was friendly, interested, and asked good and fair questions. The panel asked me a mix of technical (mostly concerning my code), behavioural (mostly about how I work in a team), and cultural questions (how do I contribute to a diverse work environment). I could ask the panel some questions after the interview, though we were short on time by then, so there was only time for one or two questions from my side. I received positive feedback one day after the stage 1 interview, and was invited for a second interview.
The second interview was scheduled to take place roughly a week after the first interview. All but one panel members were the same as in stage 1. The second interview consisted of a case study. In the beginning, a panel member shared their screen, showing me a lengthy text file that outlined a hypothetical scenario (which I had to memorise). Afterwards, the panel asked me various questions about how I would approach the situation, and how I would deal with various problems/challenges that might arise while working on the hypothetical project. Overall, stage 2 was harder than stage 1 (mostly because I struggled with the scenario, which focused on an algorithm I was not too familiar with), but the questions of the panel members were, again, fair and appropriate. The panel was friendly, professional and supportive. I could, again, ask some questions after the interview. The panel informed me that they will get back to me with their final decision after roughly a week.
Up to this point my experience was very positive. However, two weeks went by without me hearing anything , so I wrote HR an email, asking for an update. I received no response. Even now, roughly two months after the second interview, neither was the outcome of my application communicated, nor did I receive any feedback about the interview.
Although the interview experience itself was very positive, the way in which communication was handled after the second interview was highly unprofessional, disrespectful, and disappointing.
