A recruiter reached out via LinkedIn. The process had four stages and was fast, with feedback within a few days after each step: (1) a short questionnaire (6 questions) submitted with the CV; (2) a recruiter screening of about one hour including a quick technical round; (3) a two-hour technical interview over Zoom with two backend engineers from the team; and (4) a final interview of about one hour with the Backend Lead and the Delivery Manager, focused on culture fit and soft skills. Communication was friendly and professional throughout, and the team is international and fully distributed, with part of it based in Spain. After the final stage I got a clear answer within a week: they rated the technical match as strong but felt my preference for stable, well-defined processes fit less well with their fast-changing, high-autonomy environment. They kept the door open. Overall a positive and respectful experience.