Bad experience with interview with Okta-Manager Analytics
I genuinely want to understand how companies justify interview processes like this.
I went through 6 rounds of interviews for a Manager Analytics role at Okta. Total interview time alone was roughly 4–5 hours across multiple stakeholders. On top of that, there was an assignment that took another 5–6 hours to complete properly. Add preparation time for domain knowledge, leadership scenarios, GenAI discussions, dashboard architecture, stakeholder management, etc., and this process consumed a significant amount of professional effort over multiple weeks.
Then complete silence.
No rejection. No closure. No feedback. No acknowledgement that a candidate invested serious time into their process. The HR stopped responding to emails and doesn’t pick up calls anymore.
What makes this worse is that throughout the process, the messaging was extremely positive. Strong discussions, detailed rounds, assignment review, multiple follow-ups — everything indicated forward movement. Then suddenly the process disappears into a black hole.
Companies keep talking about “candidate experience” while normalizing processes that would never be tolerated internally. Imagine assigning 10+ hours of work to a vendor or consultant and then ghosting them entirely.
A hiring process reflects company culture more honestly than corporate values pages ever will.
If a company requires:
- 6 interview rounds
- extensive take-home assignments
- multiple leadership evaluations
- deep technical preparation
then the bare minimum expectation is professional communication and closure.
Candidates are not disposable bandwidth.