The initial interview process at HPE was refreshingly straightforward. I had a short call with a recruiter, followed by a 30-minute call with the hiring manager that was more of a casual “get to know you” conversation—no technical questions, just a discussion of my background. From there, things became a bit disorganized. I was originally scheduled for two 1:1 interviews with team members, but after several reschedules, they were merged into a single one-hour technical interview. The questions covered a broad range of topics—Linux troubleshooting, IAM, Terraform state management, vulnerability management, Jenkins, etc.—but none of them were particularly deep or challenging. I didn’t walk away feeling especially confident and assumed it had just been good interview practice. Afterward, I sent a thank-you email to the recruiter, who replied quickly and said she had heard positive feedback and that more updates would follow soon. Instead, this kicked off a months-long waiting game. I repeatedly received messages saying there were no updates, that I was a “shoe-in” for the role, and that I just needed to remain patient. I interviewed in January, but by late April I received a generic rejection email. To the recruiter’s credit, she did also call me to explain that the role’s funding had been pulled. She emphasized that the position wasn’t being filled by anyone else and reassured me that I’d be considered for future opportunities. Months later, I stumbled across the exact same job posting—same listing ID as before. When I tried to reapply, the system flagged that I had already applied. I reached out to the recruiter for clarification, but shortly after sending my message, the posting disappeared without any response. To be clear: I didn’t feel I had the strongest interviews and didn’t expect an offer, so I have no hard feelings about not getting the job. What I do find frustrating, however, is being strung along for four months with reassurances, only to see the role reposted with no explanation. Bottom line: The interview process itself is fairly simple and low-stress, but communication and transparency are poor. Don’t expect timely updates, and be prepared for potential wasted time on the recruiter’s side.