I applied for a mid-level developer role but my work was marked against senior-level criteria, which they later admitted was a mistake. Despite meeting all the requirements, writing tests, and delivering clean FastAPI code, I was marked down for minor setup differences (Mac vs Windows, missing env example, handwritten requirements.txt) and told I should have used Docker, even though the brief clearly asked for a simple web app. The whole process felt rigid and unfair, with no chance to discuss my decisions or defend the work. Doing a take-home test before even speaking to someone face to face is a red flag and makes the experience feel like a waste of time. This was clearly a senior role and I was only put forward to be part of the candidate pool. Overall, a negative experience for the quality of work I delivered.