I applied online for the position, and 50 days later I had my first interview. The interview was online, lasted 30 minutes, and involved one HR representative, the hiring manager, and a senior employee from the same role I had applied for. The interview started with the typical introduction question, asking me to talk a bit about myself (my studies and professional experience up to that point). Then they asked what I knew about the company, whether I liked the position I applied for, and why I wanted to work there. At the end, they asked about my salary expectations, my current salary, and my notice period. Fifteen days later, I received the typical generic rejection email informing me they would proceed with another candidate. Negatives: 1. They did not present the company or explain what they actually do at all. While answering their question about what I knew about them, I clearly demonstrated that I had done my research. In fact, they even seemed surprised and asked me how I knew so much about the company. However, they did not spend even two minutes explaining, even on a basic level, what their company does. 2. They did not present the role, projects, or applications related to the position. On the contrary, while discussing my previous experience and how I believed it matched the role, I demonstrated that I was familiar with both their projects (I even mentioned specific project names) and the role’s domain. Still, they made absolutely no reference to any of these topics. 3. They did not ask me any questions regarding my previous experience, the tools and technologies I had worked with (which were listed in the job description and on my CV), my expertise with them, or the projects where I had used them in the past. The only information discussed was what I voluntarily mentioned during my introduction, without any follow-up questions or genuine interest from their side. 4. When I asked questions about the role, the daily tasks, the seniority level they were looking for, etc., they either did not know how to answer or gave very generic responses. 5. Regarding the salary expectations discussion: based on my experience with other interview processes, this conversation usually takes place only between the candidate and someone from HR, without being disclosed to other employees. Not in the presence of both the hiring manager and another employee (the senior person from the same role I applied for). 6. During the salary discussion, I honestly do not understand why they wanted to know how much I currently earn in my existing role. Why does that matter? The only thing that should matter is how much I am asking from them. (This point, together with the previous one regarding salary expectations, unfortunately reflects signs of micromanagement, and I genuinely wonder how such a company received a “Great Place to Work” certification.) By the end of the first interview, it was obvious there would be no continuation or second interview for the role, despite the fact that I appeared well-prepared regarding the company, its projects, and the position itself, and despite covering all the requirements, including the “additional” / “nice to have” ones. In a 30-minute interview that is not just a quick screening, involving four people (three from the company and myself), where most of the conversation is led by the HR representative, it is difficult to understand how technical they actually expect the discussion to become. Naturally, you end up discussing topics that all participants (including HR) can follow, expecting that when the hiring manager hears certain keywords or notices experience relevant to their tech stack, they will ask follow-up questions to allow you to dive deeper into technical details (with HR present). That never happened. Advice to HR regarding the hiring process: If the first interview is conducted in such a formal and superficial way, only to ask candidates about their salary expectations at the end, without any meaningful discussion about the role or the candidate’s background (apart from a short self-introduction due to the 30-minute time limit), then simply add a field during the application process asking for salary expectations upfront, so that everyone can avoid this entire performance.