Interview process started off pretty good, peaked somewhere in the middle and took a nose dive towards the end. Here's are the details:
Application > Call with HM. This was followed up by a take-home case study. I did a great job involving data integration using an API, design the entire architecture. This was followed up by in-person for local candidates / Zoom interview for out of state candidates.
I went with the Zoom call. A total of 6 people over 3 technical and 1 cultural. It involved a case study review, design questions and some ETL etc. I believe I explained everything pretty well. There's always a scope of curveball questions and awkward situation but overall really good. Don't expect to ask questions, there's just not too much time by the time interviewers are done. They just ask a lot of questions and follow-ups. Their technical rounds are pretty much a one-way street.
I was confident & actually really excited about this job. HM was also really excited and I had a great time talking to him/her. This company was on top of my list.
Two days later, I get a templated response and it's a reject. Asked for individual feedback, still waiting.
Suggestion to Uptake:
Please be kind and at least don't send a templated response, especially to candidates who make it to the final round. Candidates put a lot of effort throughout the process with a case study, allocating long stretches of time over multiple days, postponing everything else, taking days off. Time is money, especially the days you take off!!
Least you can do is let candidates know what went wrong. Simple feedback is greatly helpful after all that a candidate goes through.