Terrible, confusing experience. Offer vetoed at executive level after passing all interviews. There were five rounds + TWO reference checks:
Recruiter screen
Technical screen with Karat
Domain / Systems Design Interview
Experience Interview
VP Interview
All rounds went well, I liked the interviewers and received positive feedback from the recruiter afterwards. The recruiter requested names of two references so they could conduct interviews with my former managers. To me this indicated I would be getting an offer. I chatted with both managers and they described everything positively and even said the interviewer described it as a "glowing review" of me. I had a call with the recruiter that same week, and they indicated we were moving forward and just needed to figure out team matching details, etc.
A day or two later the recruiter calls me and lets me know they aren't moving forward. And that everyone gave the green light, but it was vetoed at the executive level for some reason and they don't know why. Recruiter was literally on the phone crying and apologizing to me. Recruiter was confused and so was I. Very weird decision from the executive. I can only speculate as to what type of unethical practices led to this weird experience: Prejudice? Poor head count planning? Who knows.