u/Bubbly-Valuable8083

I had an interview with Instawork today for an internship role , and honestly, this was probably the weirdest interview experience I've had so far.

I spent basically my entire day preparing for this. I went through the JD properly, researched the company, studied the role, prepared questions around iOS, Apple ID, SD cards, data transfer, SOP, troubleshooting scenarios, my projects, my skills, etc. I also spent money on petrol and travelling to the venue.

This was supposed to be a proper interview, and I was mentally prepared for it.

But the actual interview lasted maybe 5–10 minutes.

The interviewer was in a huge hurry. He didn't even ask me for a self-introduction. I had prepared my introduction and everything, but I literally didn't get a chance to give it.

He asked a couple of questions and moved on very quickly. There wasn't really any discussion about my projects, experience, or anything else.

The weirdest part happened after the interview.

There was an HR person handling the candidates. From what I saw, after each candidate finished, HR would check something and tell them whether they were shortlisted or rejected.

When I finished, I was just standing there waiting because nobody told me what to do. I eventually asked the HR person something like:

"Should I go or should I stay here?"

She hadn't even checked my status at that point. Then she suddenly looked and said something along the lines of:

"Oh, okay, okay... sorry, you guys are rejected."

And that was it.

I understand getting rejected. That's completely fine. I've been rejected before and I'll probably be rejected many more times. That's part of job hunting.

What pissed me off was the way the whole thing was handled.

I spent the entire day preparing and travelling there, and I didn't even feel like I actually got interviewed. It almost felt like I was just there so they could complete a procedure/checklist.

I'm not saying I deserved the job or that I should have been selected. Maybe I wasn't a good fit. Maybe they had already shortlisted enough people. Maybe the position was already almost filled. I genuinely don't know.

But if that's the case, why make candidates spend an entire day travelling to the venue?

Maybe I'm overreacting because I'm still frustrated right now, but has anyone else experienced interviews like this?

Is this normal for internship hiring, or was this just a particularly badly handled interview process?

Hi everyone,

I had my interview on July 1.

The interview lasted around 30 minutes even though a 1-hour slot was scheduled.

It wasn't a technical interview at all. They mainly asked product thinking, case studies, leadership, and management questions.

Some of the questions were:

What's an app you use regularly?

I answered BookMyShow.

They asked what new feature I would add.

I suggested promoting world cinema and independent films, since I'm a cinephile and feel BookMyShow mainly promotes mainstream movies.

They also asked leadership and management-related questions.

At the end, I asked about the hiring process, and they told me there would be three rounds in total:

Current interview

Senior Product Analyst round

HR round

I also asked about the expected joining timeline if selected.

After the interview, I followed up with HR. She initially told me she would check with the interviewer and update me by that week or early next week.

A few days later, I followed up again. She replied quickly and said:

"Will check and update you today."

But that day passed without any update.

Now it's been over a week since my interview, and I still haven't received any feedback.

I completely understand that hiring takes time, but the uncertainty is becoming really difficult to handle. At this point, I honestly feel I'd rather receive a rejection than keep wondering what happened.

My questions are:

Should I send one more follow-up message to HR, or should I stop messaging and wait?

Does this kind of delay usually mean rejection, or have any of you received positive updates after a similar delay?

Am I overthinking this situation?

I'd really appreciate hearing from recruiters, hiring managers, or anyone who's experienced something similar.

Thanks in advance.