I interviewed for the lead engineer role. Question was leetcode medium level, which I had no difficulty coming up with a solution. I am unsure why I was rejected. They required me to code it, compile it, run it and write unit tests for the same and ensure the tests pass successfully. I presented my solution. While writing, I wanted to refer how to split my string using string.split. As far as I understand, anyone should be able to look that up without being considered a negative aspect. Other than that, I coded the whole thing, ran it (which I think is ridiculous to do but still did). I also explained my testing strategy and ran 90% of the unit tests successfully. Is this not enough these days to accept an experienced candidate? What has this industry come down to?

HR recruiters are well prepared and keep constant communication of the overall process. I did not like the way technical screen was conducted by the engineer. Rather than discussing the question, when I started explaining how I would solve the question I got interrupted and told “no need to explain, just start coding.” Further, my interview link got changed at the last minute and interviewer made it sound like it was my fault for being late when I had been waiting for almost 10 minutes in the previous link. As a first impression, it did not signal a collaborative and empathetic engineering culture. I should not assume the interviewer is a representation of the company, but interviewers need better training when conducting technical screens. Overall process took 2 weeks (HR call + tech screen)