Interview Experience: Mixed (Strong early rounds, disappointing final round) The first two interview rounds were professional, role-focused, and technically relevant. Discussions were centered around real project experience, ASP.NET Core / Web API development, and full-stack responsibilities, which felt positive and aligned with the role. Unfortunately, the final CTO round was discouraging and moved away from a practical engineering evaluation. Despite having 3+ years of hands-on industry experience as a Full Stack .NET Core developer, much of the conversation focused on academic qualifications—particularly the absence of a PG degree—rather than technical capability, system design, or real problem-solving. Recommending further academic programs (including management degrees(MBA)) as a substitute for real industry experience felt outdated and disconnected from modern hiring practices for experienced developers. In today’s fast-evolving AI and cloud-driven technology landscape, where continuous upskilling and hands-on development matter far more than academic credentials alone, suggesting formal education as the primary source of “industry experience” did not align with current engineering realities. Additionally, when I shared my ambition to grow into a reliable engineer who takes strong technical ownership, the response felt dismissive, with that goal being reduced to a comparison with basic honesty rather than discussed as a serious professional objective tied to reliability, accountability, and system ownership. There was limited discussion on scalable architecture, APIs, performance optimization, or real project challenges—topics that would more accurately reflect a candidate’s real engineering skills and suitability for the role. I would honestly have felt more respected and satisfied even if I had been rejected based on hands-on technical evaluation and real-world problem-solving ability rather than academic qualification filters — especially after spending 6+ hours across machine tests and multiple technical rounds demonstrating practical skills, only for the final outcome to hinge largely on academic background and degree-based considerations. While every organization has the right to define its interview style, I expected the leadership round to remain respectful and skill-focused rather than shifting toward academic screening and dismissive comparisons.