This one is funny. The recruiter missed the actual phone screen. I had to email her to ask if it was still going to be scheduled as planned. Thankfully she called back afterwards but still, nothing came out of it. Standard rejection email afterwards - with some passive aggressive message about being lucky to have even made it to the phone screen because only the "best" resumes make it that far. LOL

I applied through an employee referral but I guess it went into a black box, as I never heard back. My application still says "new" online. Luckily, the person who referred me was kind enough to follow up with the hiring manager, who got in touch with me directly. I had a casual chat with the HM about the role and asked some questions. Once the HM looped in the recruiter, things really sped up. After this, the recruiter sent me a written test, which I recommend asking for over a weekend. They give you 72 hours to finish this, you choose the time and effort you want to put in, but I think it takes some time to be strategic about the work and present it decently. The exercise was super enjoyable to work on. Within a day of sending it, I heard back, and was invited to the onsite in Stockholm. The onsite was extremely well-organised and I flew out the very next week. Hotels and flights were all paid for, the rest you can expense. It was a really nice hotel and they allowed 3 days of stay, which gives you a bit of time to explore the city. I interviewed with a UX researcher, two design leads in the org, a UX writing manager, and a product manager. The questions were all about how I would work and collaborate with other teams, handle difficult situations, and examples of past experiences. None of the interviews ever felt like one, it was more like a casual chat. The conversation flowed easily, everyone was very pleasant, and I never felt pressured at any point. The questions were asked in such a way that brought out and highlighted very positive aspects of my skills and experience. Apart from these rounds, I had lunch with two team members, when I asked questions about Stockholm, and a wrap up chat with the hiring manager at the end of the day. Two days later, I received very positive feedback, and a couple of days later, received a good offer, which I accepted. What I really liked was how transparent the recruiter was at every stage. There were also chats before every round which summarised what was expected from me, and the evaluation criteria. Overall, I left my onsite with a very positive and well-organised experience, probably the best I've had so far.