I was contacted by Airbnb and my interview was scheduled. The email process that the company follows, i.e., first the HR will contact you and will ask to provide your availability and they are quite flexible, that was nice also in her email she suggested me a few topics that I can expect my interview to be based on, that was really nice and unlike many other companies. So finally, I was scheduled for a 45 minute technical (live coding) interview.
Knowing all the good work Airbnb does and being the amazing #1pplaces to work, I was expecting the interview process to be nice and thoughtful, where candidates feel more like comfortable and connected and Interviewees take more time to talk about the company the role and make a connection first before starting the question part. I expected Airbnb interview process to be different than those typical class A companies interview process who carry a "We are flooded with applications, we don't connect, we just code" attitude.
But unfortunately, it too had joined the league, I was told that it will be a 45-minute coding interview, where I will be asked to solve a problem using coderpad, my interview will call me on my cell phone and will share the coderpad link.
My interviewer called and trust me I couldn't understand a single word due to his accent and low voice tone, he didn't even make an effort to help me understand what he is saying, I opened the call by telling his name, which till date I don't know, I asked him twice but didn't understand, happens, not a problem, he sounded as if he is in a rush, though I wasn't able to quiet understand from what he was saying, he just said his name and told me that let's start with the question directly, no introduction, nothing about me, didn't tell me about his profile and the company or the position, nothing at all, "let's just start with the question", like really, anyways, he told me the question, and clearly I have to request him to re-explain it, and post that as well the question was not much clear, I understand people do have accent, I get it, but in a hiring process where it's all about interaction and communication "PLEASE RECRUITERS/INTERVIEWERS HAVE SOME WHO CAN CONVERSE CLEARLY or ATLEAST EXPLAIN CLEARLY", being a candidate it becomes very difficult for us and due to which we get so confused. If it was a plain coding round the interviewer should have also written the question along with just saying it. He never talked about the company or people and also in between when I had questions he seemed confused and I did not receive any clear answers from him.
The level of difficulty was moderate and reasonable and I understand in the end it is all about your skills and talent, but if your interviewer is not at all supportive or clear, no candidate will ever be able to give their best shot.
Airbnb is a company I was really passionate about and dreamt of going but if I am not able to give my best shot to achieve my dream I don't wanna blame anyone but yes what I explained above does affect my performance to some extent.
But never mind, I am gonna try again.