I interviewed with Rakuten (India). There were 4 rounds. HR general discussion about roles and CTC. Then technical round (1) with a Manager then technical round (2) with another manager. Finally fitment round with leadership followed by HR negotiation. Despite clearing all the rounds and clearly stating the expected CTC I was told that they won't be able to match the salary expectation. I felt it was a waste of time and effort on both the sides. They should clearly have the budget discussion even before scheduling the interview.

Had a discussion with recruiters about role and salary expectations in initial phone calls. Few days later, 1st technical round was scheduled. Interviewer was friendly in first 5 minutes then started technical questions on scrum, relocation to Bangalore etc. But I didn't expect a weird question from technical round. What is your current CTC? What is your expectations? Haha..what a Jack he was.. he was comparing his own salary with person who wants to join Rakuten? It was good that he rejected me in technical round. It's better not to work with person who is more interested in knowing your salary than Skills. Advice to Rakuten team: ask your technical useless Jack to focus on their own salary rather intriguing candidates for expected salary..its not a good interview experience..