I went through a multi-step interview process that lasted almost a month. It began with an introductory call with HR to discuss the role and my background. After that, I had an interview with an engineering manager focused on my experience and past projects. I was then given a technical exercise, followed by a technical interview where we reviewed my approach and discussed general engineering topics. I had been transparent about my background, including the fact that I had experience in backend development but had not previously worked with one of the specific technologies used in the exercise. I was told during the process that this would not be an issue. After passing the technical assessment, I had two additional interviews with senior leadership and HR, which were mainly behavioral. The feedback during the process was generally positive. In the end, I was informed that I would not be moving forward because my skills with a particular technology were “not strongly demonstrated.” While I understand that companies may evaluate multiple candidates, I found it surprising to receive this feedback at the very end of a long process, especially since this concern could have been addressed earlier. Overall, the experience was professional, but the length of the process and the final feedback left me somewhat disappointed and confused.