I recently applied for a SWE position at a company and completed the first round of interviews. The company had a technical issue the day of my second interview that prevented me from joining the session.<p>I reached out and told the company about this problem, only to discover that the recruiters I had been talking to had been laid off very recently, but the recruiting coordinator acknowledged the mistake and asked for another time that I would be available for the second round.<p>I updated my availability, then received a new email from another recruiter saying that I had been rejected and thanks for applying, so I forwarded the last email from the recruiting coordinator and asked what was going on. Later that day they wrote be back and apologized for the mix up and asked if I would still be available on the new dates for the second round.<p>I’m not sure how I feel about this, part of me wants to acknowledge that people make mistakes and especially after going through a company wide layoff but part of me just wants to stop the process here. I’m not sure if I actually did poorly on the first round and due to a miscommunication they are giving me a second round to save face or if this is truly a mistake. Should I keep interviewing with this company?
Mistakes and miscommunication happens (especially when team members on/off board and handover isn't always what it 'should' be)<p>That said ... such types of missteps <i>CAN</i> be a bad sign - or not<p>Keep in mind the issues they've had, and factor that into any final decision you end up making :)
Happened to me on my first job. Hiring manager miscommunicated with the HR person. Later on my first day another HR person couldn't find my contract but I had a printed out copy. All was fine, they were just overworked.
I'd say yes, keep going with them.<p>This kind of flubbing seems annoying when it happens, but it's just that -- not a sign of dishonesty or intentional neglect -- and far from the worst kind of stuff that companies do in hiring process (all too frequently). In fact it may be a simple matter of someone hitting the wrong button.<p>Plus (as in any social interaction) you gain slightly in traction with the other party when you forgive them for small mistakes like this.<p>If they drop more balls on the way you might reconsider, though.
If you have something else lined up and you want to go that route then I would do that. Otherwise I would pursue all opportunities until they're not.