Terrible Interview Experience – Ola Should Take Action Against Panelist.
I had one of the worst interview experiences while interviewing for the Senior Android Developer role at Ola. The first round was clearly communicated as a Live Coding + DSA round, which I prepared thoroughly for. However, the interviewer, Irshad Ansar Khan, completely deviated from the expected structure.
Instead of focusing on what was promised, he took the round in a different direction, asking mostly Android fundamentals—which might have been acceptable had it been relevant or consistent. But the way he conducted the interview was incredibly demotivating. He asked random, low-relevance questions, seemed uninterested, and was more focused on finding ways to reject rather than assess talent.
Even after giving correct and clear answers, Nishad abruptly ended the interview in just 30 minutes, though it was supposed to be a 1-hour technical round. Worse, I was dropped in only 30 minutes of discussion, with no follow-up questions or problem-solving discussion. It was evident he had already made up his mind, and the rest was just formality.
The very next day, I was rejected—without any feedback or chance to showcase actual coding skills.
This experience was not only demoralizing but also a complete waste of time. For a company like Ola that claims to value innovation and engineering excellence, this level of bias, disinterest, and unprofessionalism is unacceptable.
Key Issues:
Interviewer (Irshad) lacked professionalism and fairness.
Round structure was not aligned with what was communicated.
No opportunity to demonstrate real-world coding or system design skills.
Poor time management, with the round ending early for no valid reason.
No feedback or transparency post-interview.
Felt like a check-box rejection, not a real assessment.
Ola must take action against such interviewers like Irshad Khan, who damage the company’s reputation and discourage skilled engineers from applying. If this is how senior talent is evaluated, it reflects poorly on the overall tech culture at Ola.
Not recommended if you’re looking for a fair, respectful, and skill-focused interview process.
