Applied without a referral and was contacted by a recruiter for an initial phone interview. The phone screen covered my background, prior experience, motivation for applying, and experience with the frontend tech stack for the role, including CSS, JavaScript, React, APIs, and TypeScript.
After passing that round, I moved to a virtual technical screening. The interview lasted about 40 minutes and covered topics such as web optimization, a complex problem I had solved, and how I approach maintainable code. There were also some JavaScript pseudocode questions where I had to explain the output, along with behavioral questions like what gives me energy at work and what drains my energy.
There was also a short React coding exercise, around 15 minutes, where I had to render a list of elements containing titles, images, and descriptions. The interviewer seemed interested in seeing how I structured code, handled state, mapped lists, and approached the basics.
Overall, I felt the interview went very well. The conversation was positive, and we even continued talking for about 10 extra minutes beyond the scheduled time, including casual discussion about anime. Because of how well it seemed to go, I was already preparing for the next rounds and seriously considering the company alongside others I was interviewing with.
What was disappointing was the lack of follow-up afterward. Despite multiple calls and emails, the recruiter completely ghosted me. Even a professional rejection email would have been appreciated. Regardless of the outcome, candidates deserve clear communication and closure after investing time and effort in the process.