I applied online and the next day I was contacted by the hiring manager to provide availability, which I did, but didn't hear back anything until the day before the interview -- calendar invite sent on Tuesday for a Wednesday interview. I would've expected a calendar invite at least 1-2 days after providing my availability. (I should've assumed mess at that point) The calendar invite was for an initial phone screen lasting 20 minutes. However, it turned out to be a virtual (screen on) interview, which ran over by 40 mins. I took the latter as a good sign (20mins vs 1hr). We had a good conversation about the overall state of the retail world. From the beginning they told me "I know you can do the main functions of the job based on your resume", so we focused on other additional aspects of the role. One thing that caught me off guard is them wanting to talk about my current employer (who they used to work for) telling me "you can be honest, it's not going to hurt your chances". I guess it did, despite not speaking badly about them. They explained the timeline including next steps, which would be a case study that would be sent out the following week. I followed up 9 days after inquiring about next steps and the case study. I received a stock rejection email 2 weeks later saying they're moving on with other candidates. Things that stood out to me: 1. Use of the word confrontation when talking about communication during meetings with other depts. 2. No handle on interview set ups, no HR contact Overall not a great start or finish.