Interview Process
I was contacted by a Staffing Agency around July end for the SDET2 position at PhonePe, Bangalore. I was interested and proceeded with the first round of online coding on the DoSelect portal. Upon completing the round my results came at September end and my second round was scheduled for October 1st. I got my second round result in a couple of days, the 3rd and 4th rounds were completed in the mid of October and the 5th round was completed the day after.
What Happened after completing 5 rounds?
After completing 5 rounds I didn't get my result for more than a day. Since I was under an offer negotiation process with another company, I called up the junior HR and asked her what's the status of my candidature with PhonePe? Because as discussed earlier, my interview process consists of only 5 rounds. Since I'd completed all 5 rounds and no more rounds to go further I contacted the junior HR. She wanted to know whether I'm serving my notice period currently. Since I'm yet to drop my paper and I've not locked any offer so far, I asked her about my interview status as I was expecting it yesterday. She told me that, she'll update by end of the day.
Meanwhile, the Senior HR called me and told me that all the 5 rounds results were positive and I've cleared it, there will be one more round and that'll be the last round with another Hiring Manager. I was surprised because nobody told me this when asked about the entire interview process. Anyway, I wanted to clear this interview for the efforts I've put in, so I said yes and scheduled it for Friday's second half.
Wednesday I didn't get the invite for the 6th round after the call. Thursday I was waiting for it. Staffing Agency responded but didn't solve the problem here. On Thursday after 4:30 PM, I reached the junior HR and she told me that I can expect a call around 5:30 PM. At 5:40 PM I called her because I didn't get any call regarding the same. She flatly told me that my position went on hold. I was really disappointed to hear that after clearing 5 rounds, this cannot be possible. I just listened to what she told and hung up.
This was running at the back of my head and luckily I got a call from Senior HR (Already called him and he didn't pick previously). I asked him what was the reason for my position to go on hold? The HR told that due to the internal org changes across several levels, this particular position went on hold and that's why they didn't schedule my 6th round. I asked him upfront that since I'll be receiving an offer from another company the panel decided to put me on hold and was it a problem? The HR disagreed completely and told I'll get a call in 2 weeks max, if not they'll stop the interview process.
I'm writing this in mid-November and no one spoke to me so far. I don't know what's the use of clearing 5 rounds. Surprisingly the same Senior HR called my friend for the SDET2 position!
What more can you say here?
Red Flags
- The Hiring Manager in the 5th round told me that, "we're interested to work from office only because we need to see what kind of a reaction the people give when they're allocated with the tasks. Even our CTO encourages us to come to the office" Seriously? Why do you care about the expressions of the employee if the job is done and things went live on the expected date?
- The same HM was telling that by December they're going to make 100% workforce coming to the office. I don't know if they're aware of second wave threats.
Conclusion
- Everyone is struggling in the pandemic situation. I totally agree if your org is changing and the designations & titles for each role are changed across the company but, why can't you tell me that this position is going on hold after 3 rounds at the max? That too I should run from pillar to post to know the status of this interview every time.
- If the position was on hold, how come you call my friend for the same position in the next week? When all of my rounds are positive I should be the one who should've gotten the call right? Contradiction to the core!
- In spite of running temperatures (fever) and office pressure I attended each interview with passion and hard work. This on hold culture in the current situation is highly disappointing!
