Had an interview with the Principal Software Engineer of Equinix Asia Pacific, and honestly, the lack of preparation and seriousness from their side was disappointing.
First red flag: he showed up 20 minutes late with zero notice. The explanation? “The interview didn’t show up on my calendar.” That’s not exactly reassuring coming from someone in a senior technical role. Plus, he did not even turn on his camera.
Then he asked me what my major was; something clearly stated on my resume. Basic due diligence was clearly not done. At the very least, know who you’re interviewing.
After my self-introduction, he immediately said the role was “more technical” and that my background leaned toward vendor management. Fair enough, but that’s something you would already know if you actually read my resume. Instead, he proceeded to throw in a coding test last minute. And yes, it was very obvious that it was last minute because nothing felt structured or thought through.
For every other interview I’ve ever attended, the standard practice is to inform candidates ahead of time if a technical test will be involved. No details needed, just a heads-up. This just showed a lack of preparation on his part.
If there’s a skills mismatch, that’s completely fine, not every role will be a fit. What’s unacceptable is wasting a candidate’s time because you didn’t bother doing basic preparation or reviewing the resume properly.
Overall: very unprofessional experience and a complete waste of my time, especially when I take my job search seriously.
