Beware of fake interviews I was interviewing for a position that I was told was the last headcount for the team. The process was quite long, involving six rounds of onsite interviews. The interviewers seemed a bit unprepared, and the conversations felt more like they were going through the motions rather than genuinely assessing my skills for an open role. After about a month, I was rejected without any specific feedback. Shortly after, the same recruiter started reaching out to me about other job openings I had not applied for. This made me feel like the initial interview process may have been for a position that was already filled, and my candidacy was used to "pump up the numbers." I've heard from others that this can be a pattern. If you notice signs like unnecessary interview rounds, repetitive questions, a position being described as the "last headcount," or unprepared interviewers, it's a strong sign the position has already been filled. It might be time to move on to other opportunities.

HR screen Hiring manager Coding screening Virtual interview loop 1. System Design focus on K8s 2. System Design - Reliability and availability 3. Coding- Leet code Medium 4. System Design - Network stack, Linux