u/chai-halwa

[improvised writing through chatgpt]

I recently had one of the weirdest and honestly most satisfying interview experiences of my life.

I just completed my Bachelor's in 2026 and I'm trying to kickstart my career. A well-known company in my city was conducting a walk-in drive for a Junior QA/Fresher role, and I had been preparing for it for almost a week.

I really wanted that job.

I studied the basics, revised testing concepts, prepared common interview questions, went through my projects, basically did everything I could think of.

I went to the walk-in, cleared Round 1, and then cleared Round 2, which was the technical interview.

Then came Round 3.

And... yeah.

They basically told me, "You'll receive an email if we want to move forward with your candidature."

Now, I already knew what that meant.

In Round 1, some of the candidates who weren't selected were given the exact same response. So when I heard it again, I knew I was probably done.

I went home thinking, "Well, that's that."

I had spent an entire week preparing for this company and still got rejected.

Fast forward 3–4 days.

I randomly saw a LinkedIn post from the SAME COMPANY announcing another walk-in drive.

This time, for a Business Analyst role.

Fresher to 8 years of experience.

My first reaction was basically:

"Yeah... no."

I had just been rejected by this company a few days ago. Why would I go back there and interview for a completely different role?

The interview was on Sunday.

Saturday night while preparing and understanding basics I was literally thinking:

"Who the hell is going to wake up early on a Sunday, get ready, travel all the way to the same company where I got rejected last week, and get rejected again?"

So I decided I wasn't going.

Then Sunday morning happened.

For some reason, I woke up at 7 AM.

And I don't know what happened to me, but I suddenly thought:

"Okay. So what if they rejected me for QA? What if I'm actually better suited for Business Analysis?"

That thought was enough.

I got ready, and I didn't even tell anyone at home that I was going to an interview. I just told them I was going out with friends.

And off I went.

The funny part?

I knew almost nothing about Business Analysis.

I literally spent the previous night learning:

What does a Business Analyst actually do?

What is the role of a BA in an IT company?

What are requirements?

What is stakeholder communication?

What are BRDs/FRDs?

How does a BA interact with developers and clients?

That's it.

Meanwhile, for the QA interview, I'd prepared for an entire week.

I wasn't even expecting to clear Round 1.

The process was basically:

Round 1: Group screening

Round 2: Technical interview

Round 3: Senior/Project Manager interview

Round 4: HR

I entered the group screening and immediately felt like I was probably screwed.

There were around 7 people in my group, and I was the only fresher. There were people with actual experience applying for the role.

They gave us a problem and asked us to come up with a solution in around 30–40 seconds.

I just tried to explain my solution using a simple real-world example.

Then they told us to wait outside.

Out of 7 candidates, only 3 were selected.

And somehow...

My name was one of them.

At that moment, I was genuinely shocked.

I went from:

"I don't even know what a BA does."

to:

"Wait... I'm going to Round 2?"

And honestly, that gave me a huge confidence boost.

Then came Round 2 with the Team Leader.

He started going through my resume and asking about my academic projects.

This interview went completely differently from what I expected.

It didn't even feel like an interview.

It felt like a conversation.

I explained why we came up with the project idea, what problem we were trying to solve, how we approached it, and what the actual workflow was.

He seemed genuinely interested.

Then he started going through the project descriptions on my resume and underlining every fancy keyword I had written.

And then came the scary part:

"You mentioned this. What exactly does it mean?"

"Why did you use this?"

"How would you implement this?"

"Who would actually use this?"

For example, if I had written geofencing, he wanted to know what geofencing actually was, why I used it, how it worked, and what the use case was.

Thankfully, I knew what I had written on my resume.

So I explained everything.

And it went surprisingly smoothly.

I also explained my second project in the same way.

At this point, I was thinking:

"Okay... maybe I can actually do this."

Then something happened that I still find kind of funny.

I was the last candidate of the day.

The office was basically closing, and everyone seemed ready to go home.

So when I finished my Round 2, I was told to wait outside.

A senior person walked into the interview room.

I was standing only a few feet away from the room, so I could actually hear part of their conversation.

He asked something along the lines of:

"How is the candidate? Can he actually perform in a real business scenario?"

The interviewer who had just spoken to me replied that they could move forward with me. He said I understood the concepts clearly, communicated well, and could explain ideas properly to stakeholders/listeners.

And then the senior person came out.

He handed me my resume and said:

"The staff will guide you for Round 3. You're selected for the next round."

But here's the part that made me ridiculously happy.

He had actually written a few notes on my resume:

"Communication skills – Good"

"Concepts clear"

"Overall nice"

I know it's just a few words written on a resume.

But for me, it meant a LOT.

Because remember...

I had learned the basics of this entire role literally the night before.

I had spent a whole week preparing for the QA and got rejected.

Then I spent a few hours learning about Business Analysis and somehow made it to Round 3.

I actually took a picture of those notes.

And yes...

I put that picture as my wallpaper.😂

I know. Extremely cringe.

But I don't care. I was proud of myself.

Then came Round 3 with a Project Manager.

She was actually really nice.

Before starting, she told me to relax, have some water, and not treat it like some terrifying interview.

She even told me:

"You're a fresher. It's okay to be nervous."

She also mentioned that the person who took my previous round was apparently quite strict and that getting through him wasn't easy.

And I was sitting there thinking:

"Really? Because I thought we were just having a normal conversation." 😂

Round 3 was again mostly around my projects.

She wanted to understand whether I had actually built those projects with a real problem in mind or whether I had simply created some random college project.

I explained the ideas, workflows, problems and use cases.

She complimented my projects and said I seemed to have put genuine effort into them.

And honestly, hearing that felt really good.

At the end, because I was the last candidate and the HR team had already left, she told me the HR round wouldn't happen that day.

Then she said:

"You'll have to wait for an email."

My heart immediately dropped.

I thought:

"Oh no. Here we go again."

I was already mentally preparing myself for another rejection email.

But then, as I was leaving, she said:

"Make sure you're active on your email. I've shortlisted you for the HR round. HR will contact you regarding the next step."

I literally froze for a second.

SHORTLISTED.

For the HR round.

I was so excited that I accidentally said:

"YES! I DID IT!"

out loud.

She looked at me like:

"What?"

And I immediately went:

"Nothing, nothing ma'am." 😭

I walked out of the room trying to act normal.

Then, while I was passing the reception, the person who conducted my very first group screening actually congratulated me and said:

"Congratulations, you're going for the HR round."

He also told me that getting through the technical interviewer was quite difficult.

And again, I was thinking:

"I don't know why everyone thinks this guy is scary. He was actually really nice to me." 😂

So here I am.

One week ago:

Rejected by this company for a QA fresher position after preparing for an entire week.

One week later:

Walked into the exact same company, for a completely different role, after studying Business Analysis for basically one night.

Cleared the group screening.

Cleared the technical round.

Cleared the senior/project manager round.

And got shortlisted for HR.

I haven't received the final offer yet, so I'm not going to celebrate too early.

But honestly?

Even if I don't get the final offer, this experience has already taught me something.

Sometimes rejection doesn't necessarily mean "you're not good enough."

Sometimes it might just mean "that's not where you're supposed to fit."

Maybe QA wasn't my thing.

Maybe Business Analysis is.

Or maybe I just got insanely lucky this time. 😂

Either way, I'm genuinely proud that I went back.

Because if I'd listened to myself on Saturday night, I'd have stayed home, slept in, and never found out what would've happened.

TL;DR: Got rejected by a company for a QA fresher role after preparing for a week. Saw another walk-in for a BA role at the same company a few days later. Almost didn't go because I didn't want to get rejected twice by the same company. Woke up at 7 AM on Sunday, learned BA basics the night before, went anyway, and somehow cleared 3 rounds and got shortlisted for HR. Apparently I was better at a role I knew almost nothing about than the one I spent a week preparing for. 😭

edit : Please users don't kill my excitement 😭😭

I joined a startup three months ago as a Junior Analyst, responsible for identifying business problems and finding solutions.

A few weeks in, my Director added me to the graphics group because I understand social media and design trends. Although it wasn’t part of my job, I agreed and regularly shared ideas.

Recently, our graphic designer had a disagreement with his manager and left some work incomplete. The next day, the graphic designer and I were called into the manager’s cabin and scolded for not being active in the graphics group.

I got frustrated and pointed out that graphics wasn’t my responsibility. When the manager said management can assign employees any work, I asked, “Where is that mentioned in my offer letter or KRA?”

The argument escalated, and I said, “If management asks me tomorrow to open or sweep the office, should I do that too?”

He was speechless at that moment and now I'm feeling very proud of myself that I stood up against wrong doing. Now I don't think next time my manager is gonna yell at me and that too ever against any other employee.

I joined a startup three months ago as a Junior Analyst, responsible for identifying business problems and finding solutions.

A few weeks in, my Director added me to the graphics group because I understand social media and design trends. Although it wasn’t part of my job, I agreed and regularly shared ideas.

Recently, our graphic designer had a disagreement with his manager and left some work incomplete. The next day, the graphic designer and I were called into the manager’s cabin and scolded for not being active in the graphics group.

I got frustrated and pointed out that graphics wasn’t my responsibility. When the manager said management can assign employees any work, I asked, “Where is that mentioned in my offer letter or KRA?”

The argument escalated, and I said, “If management asks me tomorrow to open or sweep the office, should I do that too?”

He was speechless at that moment and now I'm feeling very proud of myself that I stood up against wrong doing. Now I don't think next time my manager is gonna yell at me and that too ever against any other employee.

1. a high paying job in a startup with constant pressure for performance/numbers.

or

2. comparatively low pay but a structured environment and no pressure for any numbers/performance.

justification would be appreciated.