The process was slow and highly disorganised with a very significant gap between the take-home test submission and the final interview. They even admitted it was their fault, and yet somehow still factored it into their reasoning for not moving forward. The feedback I received was vague and unhelpful. I would expect more of a reciprocity and effort after having spent several hours on their assignment. They claimed I "struggled to talk through my own code," but I answered every question they asked and it had been several weeks since I had coded it. Instead of focusing on my thinking process and reasoning, they seemed more concerned with evaluating whether I am extroverted enough. Typically in technical interviews, especially in system design discussions, the goal is to assess how a candidate approaches problem-solving. Throughout the interview, it felt like they themselves weren’t sure what they wanted to hear. The questions were often shallow, and did not aim for a meaningful technical discussion. I put my energy into the take-home test, and in the end it felt like a waste of time. At least now I can see firsthand why it is not generally advisable to agree to a take-home assignment instead of a standard leetcoding interview.