I went through five interview rounds over the course of two months. Initially, I interviewed with the team director and team members, followed by requests for additional interviews with a salesperson, someone from the IT team, and the CEO.
All the calls went well, (the one with the salesperson, which was canceled and never rescheduled). However, the interview with the CEO took a strange turn. He was quite aggressive and jumped straight into difficult questions without any warm-up. His questions were intentionally confusing and hard to understand. He often interrupted with comments like "but is that enough" or corrected me if I didn't follow the path he expected, showing annoyance when I asked for clarification.
Throughout the process, it became apparent that the rest of the team was uncertain about his leadership and the recent acquisition—he had recently bought the company.
It felt strange to be put through five rounds of interviews over two months, only to be rejected after the CEO interview, especially with no feedback or explanation in the rejection email. This experience was unsettling and raised concerns about the CEO's behavior and decision-making.
I was very excited about the role and felt a strong connection with the team, who seemed enthusiastic about my potential contributions. However, it seems the CEO's decision ultimately overruled their opinions for reasons that remain unclear.