I applied for the position through Qualtrics' career page and got a request for a phone interview after two days. I talked to the recruiter and got very excited about the position. I made it to the second round of interviews and had an interview with the hiring manager. We had a great conversation, and I was informed that I received good feedback and was asked to have more interviews with four other team members.
Next day, I received an email from the recruiter that she would be on vacation next week, and two of the four interviewers would be also on vacation next week as well. I was asked to wait to be in touch for scheduling the next round of interviews until the recruiter would come back from vacation.
I patiently waited for a week and a half, but when the recruiter came back, she suddenly sent me the email that the hiring team already made a decision and gave an offer to another candidate. I was very disappointed and shocked with this sudden decision. First of all, I didn't understand how the decision can be made when two of the four interviewers for this role were on the vacation that week. Secondly, I was sad with the fact that I wasn't given a fair chance to meet with the team at all even after I got a good review from the hiring manager and made to the next round of the interviews. I didn't even get an opportunity to talk to the team and explain why I would be a good fit for this role just because people were on vacation.
I hope that Qualtrics, going forward, can provide a fair opportunity to every qualified candidate during the interview process.