The interview process was disappointing and felt disrespectful of candidates’ time. The initial screening interview was scheduled for 45 minutes, which already felt excessive for a first-round recruiter call, but it ended up lasting over an hour. The recruiter also joined about 10 minutes late. During the interview, there were moments where the recruiter became distracted responding to internal chats while I was answering questions, and I had to repeat parts of my response because he missed them entirely. Despite that, the interview itself went very well. I answered both the behavioral and technical questions confidently and was told the next step would be a 60–90 minute assessment. I completed the assessment shortly after receiving it. The next day, I received a rejection email stating that the concern was my commute distance. This was frustrating because my city/location is clearly listed at the top of my resume and could have been evaluated before moving me through a lengthy interview and assessment process. The stated commute estimate in the rejection email was also significantly exaggerated compared to the actual drive time and my prior experience regularly commuting to DC-area client sites. Overall, the process felt poorly coordinated and lacking consideration for the amount of time candidates are expected to invest.