I was rejected at the technical stage, which consisted of a 1.5h pair-programming exercise covering a base task and a few follow-ups. According to the feedback, the main reason for the decision was my completion speed (I went about five minutes over time), even though they were (quoting) very positive about my communication, reasoning, and overall approach. That was surprising, as usually live technical interviews focus primarily on problem-solving and collaboration rather than strict execution speed. If completion time is the primary evaluation criteria, it might be more effective to use an automated coding assessment instead of a live format. Overall, it wasn’t a great experience for me, and I don’t personally agree with this way of assessing candidates.