I rarely leave negative reviews about interview experiences, but this process was genuinely one of the most disorganised and unprofessional I’ve encountered.
I applied for a UK-based role and didn’t hear anything for 1–2 months, only to then be contacted by a recruiter based in India who could only schedule calls at awkward times like 5am UK time. For a UK role, this immediately felt strange and disconnected.
During the very first recruiter call, I was told they “weren’t sure” what the interview process would involve — despite the role having been live for months already. That should have been my first red flag.
The interview process itself was chaotic from start to finish. The recruiter repeatedly sent interview invites for completely different times than what we had agreed over email. I also joined one interview expecting to meet certain managers, only to discover one interviewer was someone entirely different, meaning I hadn’t been able to prepare for their area of expertise at all.
To make matters worse, after multiple rounds of interviews, I then received an email referring to my “2nd round interview” — despite it actually being my 3rd or 4th stage. I asked the recruiter for preparation guidance and received no response whatsoever. When I joined the call, I realised it was actually the final interview.
Following that final interview, I heard absolutely nothing for 3 weeks. I sent multiple follow-up emails to the recruiter and even contacted the hiring manager directly. I was completely ghosted by everyone involved.
Eventually, I received a generic rejection email with no feedback, no acknowledgement of the time invested, and no apology for the delays or lack of communication.
Overall, this was a shocking candidate experience: poor communication, disorganisation, misleading interview coordination, and a complete lack of professionalism or respect for candidates’ time.
Given how chaotic the process was, I genuinely came away questioning whether the role was ever truly active in the first place.